Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025: A Constitutional Critique
- IJLLR Journal
- 1 hour ago
- 2 min read
Sweta Meena, LL.M., Campus Law Centre, Delhi University
Dr. Naresh Meena, Assistant Professor, School of Law, JECRC University, Jaipur
ABSTRACT
One of the largest modifications in this context is the Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025 that alters the manner in which the religious endowments (waqf properties) are administered in India. The primary goal behind this law is to introduce more transparency, accountability, and wastage of waqf property through digitization, frequent audit checks and judicial checks. Meanwhile, the Act has brought constitutional arguments as well. As an illustration, waqf by user and requirement to include non-Muslim members in Waqf Boards might interfere with Articles 25 and 26 of the Constitution that guarantee the right of religious organisations to self-governing. Equally, legislations that permit public use of the waqf property by take-over can be inconsistent with Article 300A that establishes the right to property. Critics also hold that by regulating only waqf institutions it may be deemed as a violation of Article 14, which guarantees equality before the law. Others who believe in the amendment argue that the administration of waqf property is rather a secular matter and thus can be regulated by the state. However, critics feel that there are certain aspects of the Act that intrude into core religious behaviour.
In this paper, the constitutional issues surrounding the 2025 Amendment will be analysed. It concludes that such solutions as digitization, transparency, and appeal mechanisms are valid and profitable. Nonetheless, the regulations which influence the religious self-governance and the traditional practices might require a judicial review to balance between the state control and the religious freedom.
Keywords: Waqf, Religious Endowments, Constitutional Law, Minority Rights, State Regulation, Judicial Review.
