Sree Narayana Manava Dharmam Trust, an organisation committed to spreading the teachings of reformer Sree Narayana Guru, has filed an intervention in the Supreme Court supporting the petitions challenging the constitutional validity of the Waqf (Amendment) Act 2025.
Filed on April 3, 2025, the Trust’s application aligns with those questioning the legality of the recent changes brought by the Act. It emphasizes that the amendments severely affect the centuries-old Muslim charitable institution of waqf and are a threat to the community's religious and social rights.
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Sree Narayana Guru, a respected social reformer of Kerala in the 19th and early 20th centuries, advocated religious harmony, equality, and universal well-being. The Trust stated that remaining silent on this issue would go against Guru’s teachings.
"We cannot be idle spectators to the devastating impact of the Waqf Amendment Act on the Muslim community of India and to social justice in our country."
The Trust has argued that the 2025 Amendment Act amounts to a “fraud on the Constitution.” It believes the changes dismantle the traditional structure of waqf and introduce an unconstitutional, state-controlled system for Muslim charitable donations.
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The application asserts that the new arrangement lacks the core elements that define a waqf under Islamic law. It claims the Act erases the very identity of waqf as a religious institution, thus violating Articles 13 and 29(1) of the Constitution which protect religious customs and cultural rights.
"What is left after the enactment of the Impugned Act is not a waqf institution at all — neither legally nor theologically."
According to the Trust, the amendment imposes a “state-designed and state-imposed scheme” on the Muslim community. This scheme presents itself as waqf but lacks religious legitimacy, fundamentally altering the character of waqf donations and institutions.
A major concern raised is the removal of the ‘waqf by user’ clause, a traditional aspect that recognised waqf through long-standing public use. The amendment, it says, treats waqf as a non-religious mechanism and discards Islamic jurisprudence as the foundation of waqf governance.
Additionally, the Trust has strongly objected to changes in how Waqf Board members are chosen. Under the new law, elections have been replaced by appointments — a move that the Trust claims violates democratic values and imposes "non-democratic norms of Brahmanism" on an Islamic institution.
"The Impugned Act fatally breaches the religious requirement that Waqf must be administered strictly in accordance with democratic norms."
The legal intervention has been drawn and filed by senior advocates Dr. G. Mohan Gopal and Vaibhav Choudhary.
The matter is being heard by a three-judge bench led by Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna, along with Justice KV Viswanathan and Justice Sanjay Kumar. The court is expected to continue hearings today at 2 PM, focusing on preliminary objections and any interim directions.
Case Details: IN RE THE WAQF (AMENDMENT) ACT, 2025| W.P.(C) No. 276/2025
