Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra has moved the Supreme Court against the controversial Waqf Amendment Act. Moitra’s petition comes as a three-judge bench led by Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna is set to hear pleas against the Waqf Amendment Act next week.
"Filed writ in SC against Waqf Act- challenging denial of right of non-Muslims to dedicate property to Waqf against my constitutional guarantees under Article 14 (non-arbitrariness), 15(1) (non-discrimination), 19(1)(c) (freedom of association), 21 (individual autonomy) & 300A (property),” Moitra tweeted on Wednesday. In her plea, Moitra charged the law violated constitutional rights guaranteed for minorities in the country and the Joint Parliamentary Committee on the Waqf (Amendment) Bill “flouted” rules.
In her petition, Moitra said, “The chairperson of the Joint Parliamentary Committee flouted parliamentary rules and practices both at the stage of consideration and adoption of the draft report of the Joint Parliamentary Committee on the Waqf Amendment Bill and at the stage of presentation of the said report before the Parliament.” The West Bengal MP charged the draft report of the JPC was circulated among members only a day before the adoption of the report.
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Moitra charged non-stakeholders were invited for meetings and accused JPC of not disclosing “minutes of the meetings, responses of witnesses and presentations made during the meetings with members”. Besides violating constitutional rights, Moitra charged the Act “seriously diminishes the ‘choice’ of the minority groups to establish culturally autonomous places of learning”.
A three-judge bench headed by CJI will hear petitions against the Waqf Act on April 16. The petitioners include AIMIM leader Asaduddin Owaisi, representatives of Congress, AAP and various Muslim bodies.