Waqf law amendment bill will be passed in the budget session! JPC report accepted by the majority

The report of the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) constituted on the bill related to amendments in Waqf laws was accepted by a majority of 15 votes against 11 votes. It is believed that the JPC will submit its report to the Lok Sabha Secretariat on Thursday and it will be presented in both houses in the upcoming budget session.

The government will try to pass the bill with the 15 amendments suggested by the JPC during the second phase of the budget session. In the final report of the JPC, 15 amendments suggested by the members of the ruling party have found a place in the bill. Earlier, the amendments suggested by the opposition have been rejected by the majority. The opposition members registered their opinion against the report, calling it interference in the religious matters of Muslims.

Out of the 15 amendments made in the bill, 4 are important.

According to sources, out of the 15 amendments made in the bill, four are important. The biggest among them is to limit the role of the collector in determining the Waqf property. It is worth noting that when the bill was presented in August, the opposition had raised questions about giving excessive powers to the collector. The JPC report has proposed to replace the collector with a senior officer like a commissioner or secretary, who will be appointed by the state government.

Along with this, the JPC has included in its report that the Waqf Act should not be implemented with retrospective effect. The only condition in this is that the land should not be government land or there should not be any dispute on it. At the same time, the report also excludes registered big trusts associated with the Muslim community from the Waqf Act and a Muslim scholar has been given a place in the Waqf Board.

The opposition has been opposing the bill since the monsoon session.

The opposition has been opposing the Waqf Amendment Bill since the time it was presented during the monsoon session in August. This was also seen during the JPC meeting. Even Trinamool Congress MP Kalyan Banerjee was accused of breaking a water bottle and injuring himself during the meeting, as well as Speaker Jagadambika Pal even abused him.

Opposition continues even after the acceptance of the JPC report.

Even after the acceptance of the JPC report, the opposition continues to protest. The opposition members have termed the inclusion of non-Muslims in the Waqf Board as a violation of the religious freedom granted to Muslims under Article 26 of the Constitution. On the other hand, the ruling party members justified the rejection of the amendments proposed by the opposition members and called it an attempt to destroy the original spirit of the Waqf Amendment Act and to save the original Waqf laws of 1995.

A simple majority needed in both houses

The government will need a simple majority in both houses to pass the Waqf Amendment Bill. The way the NDA allies are united on the bill from the beginning, the government will not face any problem in getting it passed in both houses.