The Kerala government has moved the Supreme Court seeking to intervene in the batch of pleas challenging the constitutional validity of the Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025, arguing that the amendment deviates from the scope and intent of the parent legislation—the Waqf Act, 1995.
The application further highlights that the Muslim population, having waqf properties, experiences a “genuine apprehension” that the amendment will affect their fundamental rights under the Constitution and “negate/alter the nature” of their waqf properties.
“The State feels that the apprehension of the Muslim minority in Kerala that they are discriminated against in the matter of right to manage religious affairs, the waqf and waqf properties is genuine. Many of the provisions of the amendment Act are highly unjust and the Constitutional validity is doubtful,” reads the plea.
The State’s application, filed through AoR CK Sasi, argued that the principle of “Once a Waqf, always Waqf” is well established, and that a waqf—regardless of the form in which it is created—“cannot be permitted to be unsettled by taking such waqf out of purview of the parent Act.”
They challenged the present amendment’s requirement that, for the purpose of creating a waqf, a person must show, inter alia, that they have been practicing Islam for at least five years, stating that “it is not possible for the State and its authorities to check whether a person is practicing Islam or not.”
Further, the application highlighted that “Section 3C(1) encroaches upon many State subjects over which States have exclusive legislative power such as entries 18, 35, 45, 64, 65 of List II.”
The State also questioned the rationale behind the inclusion of non-Muslim members in Waqf Boards, stating, “There is no rationale behind inclusion of non-Muslim members in Waqf Boards. Such inclusion of non-Muslims violates Articles 14, 25 & 26 of the Constitution.” It pointed out that “As per amended Section 14 of the Act, members from the Muslim community will be a minority in the Board.”
The Kerala State Waqf Board has also opposed the Waqf Amendment Act, 2025, before the Court, contending that the law is unconstitutional as it “subverts the principles of secularism and violates the fundamental rights of citizens.”
This comes after the Supreme Court, while recording the matter, allowed the State Governments and State Waqf Boards to file their responses.
Seven states—Assam, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Uttarakhand, Haryana, Gujarat, and Maharashtra—have filed intervention applications supporting the 2025 Amendment Act.
A bench comprising Chief Justice of India BR Gavai and Justice AG Masih will hear the matter tomorrow to consider interim orders.
Earlier, the Kerala Legislative Assembly unanimously passed a resolution urging the central government to withdraw the Waqf Amendment Act.
 Act, 2025, arguing that the amendment deviates from the scope and intent of the parent legislation—the Waqf Act, 1995.){kind=link}