Revised Waqf Bill approved by Union Cabinet; may table in 2nd part of budget session
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New Delhi: The Union Cabinet approved 14 amendments to the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2024, recommended by the Joint Committee of Parliament (JCP), according to sources on Thursday.
The 14 amendments accepted by JCP on January 27 were submitted by NDA members on the parliamentary panel examining the contentious Waqf bill.
The 44 amendments proposed by opposition panel members were rejected by the committee after voting. These 44 amendments went against the changes proposed in the Waqf Act of 2013. On Thursday, a source said the Cabinet approved the 14 revisions to the Bill offered by JCP, and the new Bill is expected to be tabled in Parliament during the second half of the Budget session, which begins on March 10.
NDA parties Janata Dal (United) and Telegu Desam Party (TDP) were among those who proposed some of the 14 changes to the Waqf Bill that the committee approved, including extending the six-month window for registering Waqf properties on a portal, replacing the district collector with a state government official to decide whether a property is Waqf property or government land, and appointing one member to the Waqf tribunal who has "knowledge of Muslim law and jurisprudence."
The votes on the proposed amendments showed that the united NDA, including the JD(U), TDP, and Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas), were in favour of the bill in its revised form, Indian Express reported.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is confident that the Bill will be passed by the House when it is tabled. Because the BJP does not have a majority in Lok Sabha (240 members), the votes of 16 TDP members, 12 JD(U) members, and five LJP (RV) members will be critical for the Bill to pass. Other smaller NDA allies, such as the Rashtriya Lok Dal (two members), Janata Dal-Secular (two members), and Apna Dal (S) (one member), will also play an important role.
On February 13, opposition parties in the JCP claimed that parts of the dissent notes submitted by its MPs as members had been redacted without their knowledge. Later that day, the government agreed to restore some of the redacted parts through a corrigendum to Appendix V of the JCP report. The proceedings of the JCP had seen several run-ins between the Opposition and ruling sides, with allegations of "process not being followed" and the committee’s functioning being “arbitrary”.
The ruling BJP and committee chairperson Jagdambika Pal denied the accusations, claiming that all procedures were followed during the committee's tenure.
