The Lok Sabha has passed the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2024, with 288 members voting in favour, 232 opposing it. The bill, which seeks to reform the administration and regulation of Waqf properties across the country, was met with intense debate in the House. The bill will now move to the Rajya Sabha for further consideration.
#WATCH | The Waqf (Amendment) Bill passed in Lok Sabha; 288 votes in favour of the Bill, 232 votes against the Bill #WaqfAmendmentBill pic.twitter.com/BsXwV55OUr
— ANI (@ANI) April 2, 2025
The bill was passed after amendments made by the opposition members were negative. The House sat beyond midnight to pass the legislation.
After a reply to the debate by Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju, Speaker Om Birla announced that the House is taking up item no 12 in the listed business – The Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2025 – for a decision of the House. He said the question is whether the bill should be taken up for consideration and then said the lobbies should be cleared.
He later announced the result of division. “Subject to correction, Ayes 288, Noes 232. The majority is in favour of the proposal,” he said.
Parties in I.N.D.I Alliance had decided to oppose the bill and their members voted accordingly. They also pressed for division on some amendments. An amendment was negatived with 231 members voting in favour and 238 against it.
The revised bill was brought by the government after incorporating recommendations of the Joint Parliamentary Committee which examined the legislation which was introduced in August last year.
Meanwhile, slamming the opposition parties for terming Waqf Amendment Bill as “unconstitutional”, Minority Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju on April 2 said the law relating to Waqf property has been in existence for decades and has not been struck down by courts and such words should not be used lightly.
Replying to a marathon debate on Lok Sabha that lasted almost 12 hours, Rijiju said that after the bill is passed, the poor in the Muslim community will thank Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The Hose sat beyond midnight to pass the bill.
“Crores of poor Muslims will thank PM Modi on the bill being passed,” he said.
Rijiju rejected criticism by opposition members that the Bill was “anti-Muslim” and said some members were just not prepared to accept the truth despite Home Minister Amit Shah nicely elucidating on all issues.
“They are just not prepared to accept the truth,” he said.
“I want to thank all the leaders for keeping their views regarding the Bill… Some leaders are saying that the bill is unconstitutional, and I want to ask them how they could say that the bill is unconstitutional. If it was unconstitutional, why didn’t the court strike it down?… words like unconstitutional should not be used…the Bill is not against the Constitution, as the opposition claimed…We should not use the words ‘constitutional’ and ‘unconstitutional’ so lightly,” he said.
The objective of the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2024, is to amend the Waqf Act, 1995, to redress the issues and challenges in regulating and managing Waqf properties. The Amendment Bill seeks to improve the administration and management of Waqf properties in India. It aims to:
- Overcome the shortcomings of the previous act and enhance the efficiency of Waqf boards by introducing changes such as renaming the Act
- Updating the definitions of Waqf
- Improving the registration process
- Increasing the role of technology in managing Waqf records.
Amit Shah said had the Waqf law not been amended in 2013, there would have been no need to bring this bill.
“In 2013, Waqf law was made extreme overnight for appeasement, due to which 123 VVIP properties of Lutyens zone in Delhi were given to Waqf,” he said.
Amit Shah said Narendra Modi government runs on a very clear principle that we will not bring any law for vote bank because law is for justice and welfare of people.
#WaqfAmendmentBill | How Can You Not Accept the Waqf Law? It’s the Law of the Govt of Bharat and Must Be Accepted: HM Amit Shah
“…One member even said that the ‘minority community will not accept this law.’ What does that mean? Is this a threat? This is a law passed by… pic.twitter.com/JKiXmsiMR7
— Organiser Weekly (@eOrganiser) April 2, 2025
“Everyone has the right to follow their religion, but conversion cannot be done for greed, temptation and fear,” he said.
Is nationwide anti-conversion bill next?
😍Mota Bhai spilled beans pic.twitter.com/0J2YxznMem
— Tathvam-asi (@tathvamasi6) April 2, 2025
The Home Minister also spoke of extensive consultations done by the Joint Parliamentary Committee which examined the Waqf Bill.
“We formed a joint committee, 38 meetings were held, 113 hours of discussion took place and 284 stakeholders were included and about one crore online suggestions came from all over the country from all these and after analyzing all these, this law was made and it cannot be rejected like this,” he said.
The Home Minister said that from 1913 to 2013, the total land of the Waqf Board was 18 lakh acres, in which from 2013 to 2025, a new 21 lakh acres of land was added.
“There were 20 thousand properties given on lease, but according to the records, these properties became zero in 2025, these properties were sold. This bill will provide protection to the land, someone’s land will not become Waqf by mere declaration.”
Donation can be made only of one’s own property, hence Waqf will not be able to take personal property without ownership.
The bill provides that the right to declare Waqf property has been abolished and now this will have to be certified by the district collector
Amit Shah said even on Ram Janmabhoomi matter, Triple Talaq bill and CAA, efforts were made to create fear among the people of the Muslim community, but the Muslim community also knows that there is nothing to fear.
“It has been two years, no one has lost citizenship due to CAA, if anyone has lost citizenship due to CAA, then the opposition should put this information on the table of the House,” Shah said.
The bill was earlier moved the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2025 for consideration and passing in the House by Rijiju.
