A meeting of the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) on the Waqf (Amendment) Bill 2024 was held at the Parliament Library Building in the capital on Thursday. The meeting of the JPC was scheduled to be held at the Parliament House Annexe for three days - September 18, 19 and 20. The members of JPC met to hear the views of Muslim bodies on the contentious bill which seeks to reform the registration process for Waqf properties through a centralised portal.
During the day-long meeting, the panel headed by BJP leader Jagdambika Pal heard the views of stakeholders and they decided to take more opinions from people in four cities. In today's meeting, the JPC decided that its members will visit Chennai, Ahmedabad, Mumbai and Bengaluru from September 26 to September 30, said the sources.
AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi and AAP MP Sanjay Singh have raised questions on Home Minister Amit Shah's statement in which he asserted that the bill will be passed in the Parliament soon, they added.
The Union Home Minister on Tuesday said the Waqf (Amendment) Bill was committed to the management and preservation of Waqf properties and would be passed in Parliament in the coming days.
Singh and Owaisi have slammed Shah, questioning his intention, the sources said. When the matter is in the JPC then why the Home Minister is giving statements outside, opposition leaders asked. Is he trying to create pressure? Owais said.
They (BJP leaders) do not have the right to make statements when a JPC is formed in a case, he added.
Meanwhile, Prof Faizan Mustafa, Vice Chancellor, Chanakya National Law University, Patna has presented his views at the JPC meeting, the sources said.
"Giving all the power to the District Magistrate (CM) will mess up the matter. Therefore, the government should be cautious about the Waqf Amendment Bill. Amendments which are right and with consensus should be inducted in the bill.," Mustafa said.
All India Muslim Pasmanda Mahaz extended its support to the government on the Waqf Amendment Bill, they added.
The All India Muslim Personal Law Board head Khalid Saifullah Rahmani presented a 200-page report before the JPC, opposing the bill.
Waqf committee meetings become battleground
Earlier, the JPC meetings on the Waqf (Amendment) Bill turned out to be a battleground for contesting claims, as several government bodies accused Waqf boards in the country of laying ownership on properties belonging to them and drawn sharp counterclaims.
Opposition members in the committee have claimed that a large number of Waqf properties have been in fact in "unauthorised" possession of government bodies, including the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI).
(With PTI inputs)
