Waqf Bill: Last working day of the first phase of the budget session of Parliament; the JPC report will be tabled in both houses

Today is the last working day of the first phase of the current budget session of Parliament. During this, the report of the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) considering the Waqf (Amendment) Bill will be tabled in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha on Thursday. According to the Lok Sabha proceedings list, the committee chairman Jagdambika Pal will table the report and record of evidence related to the bill at the table of the House. This report will also be tabled in the Rajya Sabha.

The report of the Joint Parliamentary Committee was submitted to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on January 30. This 655-page report of the committee was accepted by the majority. The report includes suggestions suggested by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MPs. Opposition MPs had termed it unconstitutional. They had alleged that this move would ruin the Waqf Boards.

BJP MPs had stressed that the bill introduced in the Lok Sabha in August last year would try to bring modernity, transparency, and accountability in the management of Waqf properties. The committee accepted all the amendments proposed by the BJP members and rejected the amendments of the opposition members.

The opposition members in the committee had proposed amendments to all 44 provisions of the Waqf (Amendment) Bill and claimed that the law proposed by the committee would retain the oppressive character of the Bill and attempt to interfere in the religious matters of Muslims.

The Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2024 was referred to the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) on August 8, 2024, after it was introduced in the Lok Sabha by Union Minority Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju. The Bill aims to amend the Waqf Act, of 1995 to address the issues and challenges associated with regulating and managing Waqf properties.