Mumbai, Sept. 15 -- The Supreme Court on Monday refused to stay the entire Waqf Amendment Act, 2025, but suspended certain contentious provisions. The bench of Chief Justice B R Gavai and Justice Augustine George Masih struck down the clause requiring a person to practise Islam for five years before creating a waqf and stayed provisions empowering collectors to decide if waqf property belonged to the government, calling it a breach of separation of powers.

The court also clarified that ex-officio officers of waqf boards should, as far as possible, be Muslims, and limited the number of non-Muslim members to four in the Central Waqf Council and three in state boards.

While stressing that Parliament's laws carry a presumption of validity a...