Opposing the Centre’s contention that Waqf properties registered a “shocking” increase after the 2013 amendment to the Waqf law, the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) has said that the claim was “unsupported and…scurrilous” and “concealed material facts”, and accused the government of “making a false claim…to mislead” the court.
The board said this in its rejoinder affidavit filed on May 1 in response to the Centre’s counter-affidavit to petitions challenging the Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025.
The counter-affidavit, while flagging the “reported misuse of waqf provisions to encroach private properties and government properties”, said “it is really shocking to know that after the amendment brought in the year 2013, there is 116% rise in auqaf area” and referred to the data uploaded on the Waqf Management System of India (WAMSI) portal as proof.
Countering this, the board’s rejoinder said that the “Chart (showing the waqf property data) and relatable averment in the (centre’s) Affidavit, the way it has been projected, is completely misconceived and misleading, apart from being inaccurate”. It sought departmental action against the deponent “for filing such an irresponsible affidavit in such an important case”.
The rejoinder affidavit said, “It appears that in its affidavit Union of India is suggesting that all the properties registered as waqf before 2013, were immediately uploaded on WAMSI Portal, when it became operational.” The Board argued that “to say that the number of waqf properties reflected therein were the only registered properties is mischievous”.
It further said that “the deponent of the counter affidavit has not been candid to this Hon’ble Court, and it appears that has carefully avoided making a statement that ‘all the registered waqf properties were uploaded on the web portal in the year 2013’. Since this crucial aspect is missing in the affidavit, the sanctity of this chart itself is seriously doubtful. It appears that a public official, who is also the in-charge of the said portal, has either deliberately suppressed this fact or casually made this chart to falsely depict a picture which does not exist”.
The board said that “in these 2 sets of data, one placed as Annexure R-1 to the counter affidavit and another placed on the government portal, there are misleading discrepancies and also ‘double counting’, leading to exponential increase in figures as projected by Union”.
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The rejoinder said the counter affidavit “is silent on the sweeping powers to the collector” in the Act “and despite dedicating more than 50 paragraphs to emphasise the importance and benefits of registration yet fails to explain why an amendment to delete the definition or concept of waqf by user altogether is needed when Section 36 of the 1995 Act requiring registration already exists”. The counter affidavit fails to explain why “the baby must be thrown out along with the bathwater”, it added.
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