Minority Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju will table the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2024 -- a bill to amend the Waqf Act, 1995. This bill seeks to "effectively address issues" related to the powers and functioning of the State Waqf Boards, registration and survey of waqf properties and removal of encroachments.
The bill is also aimed at providing justice to poor Muslims and Muslim women besides freeing Waqf properties from illegal occupation. Some changes to the present Act include ensuring the representation of Muslim women and non-Muslims in such bodies.
The amended bill seeks to define the terms 'waqf' and omit provisions related to the 'waqf by user'. As per the bill, 'waqf' would be defined as waqf by any person who is a practising Muslim for at least 5 years and having ownership of such property and ensure the creation of Waqf-alal-aulad doesn't lead to the denial of women's inheritance rights.
The bill seeks to omit Section 40 of the current law focusing on the board's powers to decide if a property is Waqf property or not. As per the proposed bill, the district collector will decide whether a property is a Waqf property or government land.
All income from waqf properties will have to be spent on charity, as per this bill. It also aims at streamlining the registration of waqfs through a central portal and database and providing a detailled procedure mutation as per revenue laws with due notice to all concerned before recording any property as waqf property.
It also proposes the establishment of an Auqaf for the Boharas and Aghakhanis. The proposed bill further provides for the representation of Shia, Sunni, Bohara, Aghakhani and other backward classes among Muslim communities.
The bill further seeks to provide for filing of accounts of waqf by mutawallis to the Board through a central portal for better control over their activities, reform the Tribunal structure with 2 members and provide for appeals against the orders of the Tribunal to the High Court within a specified period of 90 days.
The Waqf Act, 1995 was brought in to regulate 'Auqaf', assets donated and notified as waqf by a 'wakif' or the person who dedicates a property for any purpose recognised by Muslim law as religious or charitable.
Under the Waqf Act, 1995, waqf is defined as a property dedicated for religious or charitable purposes. A total of 30 waqf boards in the country control properties spanning more than 8 lakh acres, making them the third-largest owner of real estate in India after the Railways and Defence Ministry.