Waqf bill: Oppn members’ charges are baseless, says JPC chief

The meeting of the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) on Waqf (Amendment) Bill 2024 will be held in New Delhi on Wednesday for adoption of the amended bill, JPC chairman Jagdambika Pal told HT here on Tuesday. “After this, we will request the Lok Sabha Speaker to present the amended bill in Parliament,” he said.

“The JPC has accepted some of the proposals moved by the opposition leaders, including the provision of “waqf by user” that will remain applicable to current properties. The data base of the waqf portal will be updated for six months after passing of the amended bill. All waqf properties will be uploaded on the portal,” he added.

Pal, who was in Lucknow on Tuesday, further said, “The waqf tribunal will now have three members instead of two. The third will be an Islamic scholar. Earlier, there was a provision for two members in the tribunal in the amendment bill.”

“Party can now appeal in senior courts against the waqf’s tribunal order if the Mutawalli--the custodian of waqf--is selling the property or committing irregularities,” he added.

“The waqf board will have two non-Muslim members. Even if the officers in the board are Hindus, two non- Hindu members will be there in the board and Hindu officers will be considered ex-officio excluded under the amendment,” Pal said.

“The amendment bill will open door for women members in the waqf board,” he said and added that a senior state government officer instead of collector will hear waqf’s disputes. “The state government may by notification designate an officer above the rank of collector to carry out an inquiry, as per law,” the JPC chairman said.

“Any individual intending to donate land for waqf must provide evidence of practising Islam for a minimum of five years,” he said. On opposition members Kalyan Banerjee and A Raja’s allegations that they were not allowed to speak in the meeting, Pal said, “The charges of the opposition leaders that they were not allowed to speak on the proposed amendments to the waqf bill in the meeting held on Monday are baseless.”

“All the 44 amendments were discussed clause by clause in the meeting. The opposition members moved their amendments. I put the amendments to vote. The meeting was transparent and was recorded. The results of the voting were announced in the meeting. The JPC approved 14 amendments by majority,” Pal said.

“What I did in the meeting was democratic and transparent. Earlier too, the opposition leaders tried to stall the proceeding of the JPC meetings. I have worked with patience. Meetings were held across the country in various states including Maharashtra, Gujarat, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, Odisha and Assam. Besides, 36 meetings were held in Delhi,” he added.

“An exhaustive exercise was done by the JPC ​while following all procedures. Now, the results cannot be changed. The opposition’s amendments were dismissed while those moved by the BJP and NDA were accepted due to majority. In Parliament too, the Speaker asks a member clause by clause if the member is moving or withdrawing the amendment. If a member says that they were moving, the Speaker puts it to vote,” Pal said.

The Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) was formed in August last year to examine the Waqf (Amendment) Bill 2024.