AMN / NEW DEHI
Waqf Board Act will be amended. is news of cabinet approval of the Waqf Act Amendment Bill. According to sources, a bill related to this can be brought in Parliament next week. According to the amendments, now it will be necessary to verify any property on which the Waqf Board claims. Similarly, verification of disputed property of Waqf will also be necessary. Waqf Board has a lot of properties all over the country. It is believed that after the Army and Railways, the Waqf Board has the most property. According to the information, Waqf Boards in the country have about 8.7 lakh properties of 9.4 lakh acres.
In a major move, the government wants to curb the uncontrolled powers of the Waqf Board to declare and control the property as ‘Waqf asset’. According to sources, on Friday evening, the Cabinet discussed more than 40 amendments to the Waqf Act (known as the Waqf Act before 2013). These include amendments to check the jurisdiction of the Waqf Board, which currently controls properties worth lakhs of crores of rupees across the country.
Why was this law needed?
Sources said that such a law was needed because Muslim intellectuals, women and many people from various sects like Shia and Bohra had been demanding changes in the existing law for a long time. preparations for bringing the amendment had started much before the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
Sources also said that a preliminary overview of the laws of Oman, Saudi Arabia and other Islamic countries shows that none of these countries have given such extensive rights to any one entity.
Wider powers given to Wakf Boards after 2013
The original Act was amended during the UPA government in 2013 to grant wider powers to Wakf Boards, which has been a major bone of contention between Wakf authorities, individual property owners and several state bodies, including the Archaeological Survey of India.