Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025

A 1995 law just got a new name: UMEED, meaning “expectations.” Months later, the Supreme Court paused some of its most contested provisions. This article covers the Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025, and the ongoing legal fight over it.

A New Name, A Contested Law

Polity0097

2024

Bill Introduced

Referred to a Joint Parliamentary Committee

5 APR 2025

Presidential Assent

Waqf Act renamed the UMEED Act

15 SEP 2025

SC Stays Key Provisions

Act itself not stayed, only parts of it

72 PETITIONS

Pending Final Hearing

Waqf Tribunals, higher courts to decide

Partial pause: the Court stayed specific contested provisions, not the entire Act, pending full hearing.

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Timeline

• 2024: The Waqf (Amendment) Bill is introduced and referred to a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC).
• 5 April 2025: The President gives assent. The Waqf Act, 1995 is renamed the UMEED Act.
• 15 September 2025: The Supreme Court stays key contested provisions in an interim order, without staying the Act itself.
• Ongoing: Around 72 petitions challenging the Act await final adjudication in Waqf Tribunals and higher courts.

Must Know

• The Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025 received Presidential assent on 5 April 2025, renaming the Waqf Act, 1995 as the UMEED Act (Unified Waqf Management, Empowerment, Efficiency and Development Act).
• The Act passed Lok Sabha 288-232 and Rajya Sabha 128-95, after a Joint Parliamentary Committee reviewed the original 2024 bill.
• On 15 September 2025, the Supreme Court stayed key provisions — including one letting an officer’s report decide if a property counts as waqf — while refusing to stay the Act as a whole.
• Nearly 72 petitions challenged the Act, including from AIMIM’s Asaduddin Owaisi, AIMPLB, Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind, DMK, and Congress MPs.

Good to Know

• Disputed provisions include: requiring 5 years of demonstrable Islamic practice to create a waqf, adding non-Muslim members to the Central Waqf Council and State Waqf Boards, and allowing denotification of properties long declared “waqf by user.”
• The Central Waqf Council must now compulsorily include 2 women members and 2 non-Muslim members.
• The Act introduces new definitions for “Aghakhani waqf” and “Bohra waqf,” recognising specific community-dedicated waqfs.
• “UMEED” means “expectations” — a deliberate naming choice framing the reform as improving governance and transparency.

Test Yourself

Please wait…

1. On 5 April 2025, what happened to the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, and what was the Waqf Act, 1995 renamed?

It was withdrawn; no renaming occurred

It received Presidential assent and was renamed the UMEED Act

It was struck down by the Supreme Court before assent

It was referred back to the Joint Parliamentary Committee

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Great to Know

• The Supreme Court’s approach — staying specific provisions while letting the Act stand overall — reflects a common judicial strategy: pause the most legally shaky parts pending full hearing, without blocking the entire reform.
• The “waqf by user” provision is especially contested because it affects properties treated as waqf for generations through long-term religious use, not formal deeds. Removing that recognition can unsettle established religious sites.
• This debate sits at the intersection of religious property administration and state regulatory power, a recurring tension in how India governs minority religious institutions.
• The final outcome depends on the Supreme Court’s full hearing, not just this interim stay — the law’s ultimate shape is still being decided as of 2026.