Aam Aadmi Party MLA Amanatullah Khan on Saturday moved the Supreme Court against the 2024 Waqf Amendment Bill on the grounds that it curtailed Muslims’ religious and cultural autonomy, Live Law reported.

A day earlier, Congress MP Mohammad Jawed and All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen chief Asaduddin Owaisi also filed petitions in the court challenging the bill. In separate petitions, the Opposition MPs claimed the bill was “discriminatory” and “unconstitutional”.

Both Jawed and Owaisi were part of the Joint Parliamentary Committee examining the bill.

Khan, who represents the Okhla seat in the Delhi Assembly, filed his writ petition under Article 32 of the Constitution, which grants citizens the right to seek constitutional remedies from the Supreme Court if their fundamental rights are violated.

The legislator said that the provisions of the bill have “triggered widespread anxiety among Muslims, particularly due to changes that dilute the religious autonomy and constitutional protections of waqf institutions”.

A waqf is a property dedicated to a religious, educational or charitable cause under Islamic law. Each state has a waqf board led by a legal entity vested with the power to acquire, hold and transfer property.

The 2024 Waqf Amendment Bill proposed amendments to 44 sections of the 1995 Waqf Act, including allowing non-Muslims on waqf boards, restricting property donations and changing how waqf tribunals function.

On Saturday, President Droupadi Murmu gave her assent to the bill, turning it into a law. It was passed in the Rajya Sabha on Friday, and in the Lok Sabha on Thursday.

“The bill violates fundamental rights enshrined under Articles 14, 15, 21, 25, 26, 29, 30, and 300-A of the Constitution,” The Indian Express quoted Khan as saying in his petition filed earlier on Saturday.

Article 14 ensures equality before the law, while Article 15 prohibits discrimination. Article 21 protects the right to life and personal liberty. Articles 25 to 28 safeguard the freedom of religion, and Articles 29 to 30 provide cultural and educational rights to minorities.

Article 300-A states that no person shall be deprived of their property except by the authority of the law.

“It [the bill] curtails the religious and cultural autonomy of Muslims, enables arbitrary executive interference, and undermines minority rights to manage their religious and charitable institutions,” he added.

The Aam Aadmi Party MLA’s petition stated that one of the most contentious changes proposed by the bill was increasing the powers of the government to determine whether a property was a waqf.

Section 40 of the Waqf Act grants the waqf board the authority to determine whether a property is classified as a waqf property. The decision of the board is final unless altered or revoked by a waqf tribunal.

The amendments to the Act, however, extend this authority, currently vested in the tribunal, to the district collector.

“The transfer of adjudicatory powers from the Tribunal to Executive authorities like the District Collector (Section 4) and the curtailment of Tribunal’s stay powers (Section 83) amount to denial of fair procedure,” The Indian Express quoted Khan’s petition as saying.

“The introduction of non-Muslim members to the Waqf Boards and the Central Waqf Council under Sections 9 and 14 creates a classification that is not based on intelligible differentia, nor does it have a rational nexus with the object of religious property administration,” his petition added.