The Uttar Pradesh government has registered 58 acres of Waqf property in Kaushambi district as government land, reports India Today.
While the government says it is ‘reclaiming,’ Muslims say it is encroaching on Waqf land under the pretext of the new Waqf Amendment Act, which is facing fierce opposition both in the streets and in court.
According to the report, a total of 98.95 hectares in the district is registered under the Waqf Board, and of this, 93 bighas (around 58 acres) of land have been ‘reclaimed from occupation’ and recorded in government accounts, say authorities.
The report also cites Kaushambi District Magistrate Madhusudan Hulgi.
Officials further said more Waqf land will be ‘reclaimed’ and registered as government property following verification.
The new Waqf law introduced several provisions empowering District Magistrates.
While hearing petitions challenging the Waqf (Amendment) Act 2025, the Supreme Court on Wednesday proposed to pass an interim order directing that properties declared as Waqfs by courts shall not be de-notified during the proceedings, the proviso allowing Waqf properties to be excluded during a Collector’s inquiry into government ownership shall not be enforced, and all members of Waqf Boards and the Central Waqf Council, except ex-officio members, must be Muslims.
Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna stated that “Our interim order will balance equities. We will say that whichever properties were declared by the court to be waqf will not be denotified or be treated as non-waqf.. whether it’s waqf by user or not.”
“Collector can continue with proceedings .. but the proviso will not be given effect to. Regarding board and council.. ex officio members can be appointed. But the other members have to be Muslims,” he added.
Following the request by the Solicitor General of India and other respondents’ counsel, the Supreme Court deferred issuing the interim order and posted the matter for hearing on Thursday at 2 PM to hear arguments on the proposed directions.
