RAS question
Which court stayed key provisions of the Waqf (Amendment) Act 2025 in September 2025?
Correct answer: (B) Supreme Court of India.
The Supreme Court of India stayed key provisions of the Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025 on 15 September 2025.
Explanation
The Supreme Court of India did not stay the entire Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025, but it granted targeted interim protection against key provisions. Its order stayed the phrase requiring a person to show or demonstrate that he had professed Islam for at least five years, until rules create a mechanism for deciding that question. It also stayed parts of Section 3C that would have affected the treatment of disputed waqf property and directed that waqfs should not be dispossessed, nor should revenue or Board records be affected, until title is finally decided through the statutory process. The Court also capped non-Muslim members at four in the Central Waqf Council and three in a State Board.
Why the other options are wrong
- (A) Delhi High Court was not the court named in the cited judgment; the interim directions were issued by the Supreme Court of India.
- (C) Allahabad High Court did not issue the cited September 2025 interim order on the Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025.
- (D) Bombay High Court is not connected to the cited order, which was passed in the Supreme Court's civil original jurisdiction.
Concept
This tests judicial review and interim relief in constitutional challenges to legislation. It recurs in RAS because aspirants must track how the Supreme Court balances legislative presumption with protection of rights during pending constitutional litigation.