The Waqf amendment became law on 5 April 2025, changing the administration of property dedicated to Islamic religious and charitable purposes. It took effect on 8 April. Within months, its implementation was proceeding through a new digital portal while contested provisions were being examined in the Supreme Court. [1] [2] [3] [5]
The decision concerned an existing system of religious endowments, governed by the Waqf Act, 1995. The amendment renamed that principal law the Unified Waqf Management, Empowerment, Efficiency and Development Act and altered rules about records, oversight and institutional membership. [1]
A new administrative framework
The law required details of registered waqfs and their properties to be filed on a central portal and database. It also required a person creating a waqf to own the property lawfully and introduced an executive inquiry where property was claimed to belong to government. Council and board composition changed to include non-Muslim members. [1]
The treatment of waqf by user—recognition associated with long religious or charitable use—was another point of dispute. The amendment removed that route for future recognition while retaining a proviso for existing registered properties, subject to exceptions for disputed or government property. It did not simply erase every previously registered waqf by user. [1]
The government presented its reforms as improving transparency and directing assets towards their intended beneficiaries. Petitioners argued that the changes threatened religious autonomy and property rights, particularly where executive decisions could alter an endowment’s status. Those competing arguments concerned who would control the system and what safeguards would apply. [3] [5]
What the Court put on hold
On 15 September 2025, the Supreme Court declined to stay the entire amendment. It nevertheless stayed the requirement to demonstrate five years of practising Islam until states framed rules for determining that question. It also stayed specified parts of the government-property mechanism and protected possession and records pending adjudication of title by the tribunal, subject to High Court orders. [4]
The Court capped non-Muslim membership at four of the central council’s 22 members and three of a state board’s eleven. It expressly described its reasoning as preliminary, for deciding interim relief. Refusing a blanket stay was consequently not a final judgment approving the amendment’s constitutionality. [4]
Meanwhile, the UMEED portal launched on 6 June 2025 with plans for property inventories, mapping and grievance handling. In February 2026, the ministry acknowledged intermittent technical problems, gaps in underlying documents and erroneous area entries. It said problems had been addressed and boards had been told to recheck land-area details against records. [5] [6]
The rollout had moved the policy into day-to-day administration. Its usefulness would depend on the accuracy of those records and the handling of disputes, alongside the courts’ examination of the law governing them. [4] [6]