‘All Are Striving To Go To Heaven': Supreme Court On 'Waqf Is Charity To God' Argument
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While drawing parallels between Islam and other religions with regard to "donations", Justice Augustine George Masih echoed the Chief Justice referring to a similar provision.
Waqf Law Hearing: The Supreme Court on Thursday countered an assertion made by petitioners' counsel that Waqf, representing land donations to the board, is an offering to God intended for the afterlife, saying that Hinduism also embraces a parallel spiritual pursuit called Moksha (salvation).
While drawing parallels between Islam and other religions with regard to 'donations", Justice Augustine George Masih echoed the Chief Justice referring to a similar provision in Christianity, saying, 'We are all striving to go to heaven".
While hearing a batch of petitions against the Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025, the Chief Justice BR Gavai-led bench countered the argument given by senior lawyer Rajeev Dhawan's submission in which he contended the Centre's argument that waqf is charity and is not an essential part of Islam.
'According to the Vedas, temples are not an essential part of Hinduism. There is a provision to worship nature. There are gods of fire, water and rain. There are mountains, oceans etc", Dhawan said.
Echoing similar sentiments, another counsel and senior advocate Kapil Sibal said, 'Waqf is a dedication to God. Others are charity to community and this is dedication to God, once given can't be taken back."
'Charity is a fundamental principle of other religions also," CJI Gavai replied.
To this, Sibal said that the idea in Islam is different from others. 'This is a donation given to God. Here the dedication is to God. The donation is for the community. For the future i.e. after death. So that Allah takes care of me after death," he asserted.
The bench countered the argument, saying that 'Hindus have the concept of Moksh (salvation)".
Earlier on Wednesday, the Centre told the the Supreme Court that Waqf is a charity organisation and is not an essential part of Islam. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Centre, said Waqf is an Islamic concept, but it is not an essential part of Islam.
Waqf by user refers to a concept where a property is recognised as waqf based on its long-term use for religious or charitable purposes, even without formal documentation.
The Centre notified the Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025 last month after it got President Droupadi Murmu's assent on April 5. The bill was cleared by Lok Sabha with the support of 288 members while 232 MPs were against it. The Rajya Sabha saw 128 members voting in its favour and 95 against it.
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Indian Express
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Conferring ownership rights on residents will also enable them to transfer and take bank loans against their properties. While Delhi has seen several waves of regularisation of unauthorised colonies since 1961, the process had been halted since 1993. For at least two decades, it has been a long-standing political issue with all political parties promising regularisation. Ahead of the 2020 Delhi elections, the central government announced the launch of PM-UDAY to regularise 1,731 unauthorised colonies; DDA was the nodal agency to implement the scheme. This was different from past attempts at regularisation under which the Delhi government was to coordinate the whole process. The Aam Aadmi Party was in power in Delhi when the BJP-led central government launched PM-UDAY. While details on the exact number of unauthorised colonies and their residents are unavailable, about 50 lakh people stood to benefit from the regularisation of 1,731 colonies. 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