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Congress MP Mohammad Jawed and All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen chief Asaduddin Owaisi have moved the Supreme Court challenging the 2024 Waqf Amendment Bill, which seeks to curb the authority of waqf boards that oversee Muslim charitable endowments and allow greater government control over them.

In separate petitions, Jawed and Owaisi claimed the Bill was “discriminatory” and “unconstitutional”. They also said the it imposes restrictions on Muslims that are “not present in the governance of other religious endowments”.

On Friday, the Rajya Sabha passed the Waqf Bill, with 128 votes in favour and 95 against, following a 14-hour debate. The Bill was passed in the Lok Sabha at around 2 am on Thursday with 288 votes in favour and 232 against. It now awaits the president’s assent. Read on.

Also read: How the BJP is using the Waqf bill row to push its Hindutva politics

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday urged Bangladesh’s Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus to avoid rhetoric that could strain ties between New Delhi and Dhaka. Modi also reiterated India’s support for a democratic, stable, peaceful, progressive and inclusive Bangladesh in his first meeting with Yunus since the latter took office in August.

This came days after Yunus told Chinese officials that India’s northeastern states were landlocked and described his country as the “only guardian” for the Indian Ocean in the region. This could play a role in the “extension of the Chinese economy”, Yunus had said during a visit to China.

Modi told Yunus about the need to maintain border security and stability between the two countries, said India’s Ministry of External Affairs. “The prime minister also underlined India’s concerns related to safety and security of minorities in Bangladesh, including Hindus,” the ministry added. Read on.

The Supreme Court has questioned a Delhi High Court order telling Wikipedia to remove a page about the ongoing proceedings in a defamation suit filed by Asian News International against the platform. A bench of Justices Abhay S Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan asked whether courts could be “so touchy” about criticism.

The Supreme Court questioned how such a direction could be passed unless the High Court came to a conclusion that the page constituted contempt of court.

On October 16, a High Court bench of Chief Justice Manmohan and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela directed the Wikimedia Foundation to take down a page about ongoing proceedings of a Rs 2 crore defamation suit filed by the news agency against the platform. The non-profit has since “suspended access” to the page.

The defamation suit is about a Wikipedia page about ANI that says that the news agency has been criticised for serving as a “propaganda tool” for the Indian government. Read on.

The police in Uttar Pradesh’s Sambhal detained three men from Delhi for allegedly trying to perform Hindu rituals at the Shahi Jama Masjid in Chandausi town. The superintendent of police said that action would be taken against them for disturbing public order.

Amid communal tensions in the district, heavy security had been deployed at the mosque ahead of Friday prayers.

The Shahi Jama Masjid is at the centre of a legal dispute, with Hindu litigants claiming that the mosque was built in 1526 by Mughal ruler Babur on the site of a centuries-old temple.

In November, violence broke out in Sambhal after Muslim groups objected to a court-ordered survey of the mosque. The violence left five people dead. Read more.

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