The party said that immediate implementation of the Act infringed upon and prejudiced the rights of about 50 lakh Muslims in Tamil Nadu and 20 crore Muslims in other parts of the country.Besides political parties, Muslim bodies such as the AIMPLB, Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind and the Samastha Kerala Jamiathul Ulema – a religious organisation of Sunni Muslim scholars and clerics in Kerala – have also filed separate pleas in the top court.In a press statement, AIMPLB spokesperson S Q R Ilyas said its petition strongly objected the amendments passed by the Parliament for being “arbitrary, discriminatory and based on exclusion”.The amendments, he said, not only violated the fundamental rights guaranteed under Articles 25 and 26 of the Constitution but also clearly revealed the government’s intention to take complete control over the administration of Waqf, therefore, sidelining the Muslim minority from managing its own religious endowments.Articles 25 and 26 ensure freedom of conscience, the right to practise, propagate religion, and the right to establish and manage institutions for religious and charitable purposes, he said.Congress MP Jawed’s plea alleged that the Act imposed “arbitrary restrictions” on Waqf properties and their management, undermining the Muslim community’s religious autonomy.In his separate plea, AIMIM chief Owaisi said the legislation took away from Waqfs various protection accorded to Waqfs, and Hindu, Jain and Sikh religious and charitable endowments alike.The Association for the Protection of Civil Rights, an NGO, also challenged the law’s constitutional validity in the top court .AAP’s Delhi MLA Khan has sought the law be declared unconstitutional, being violative of “Articles 14, 15, 21, 25, 26, 29, 30 and 300-A of the Constitution”.
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