NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Monday declined an urgent hearing on petitions challenging the constitutional validity of the Waqf Amendment Act, stating the matter will be listed “in due course”.”There’s a robust system of listing in place and that the matter will come up in due course,” the CJI Sanjiv Khanna told the senior lawyers Kapil Sibal, Abhishek Manu Singhvi and many others who were appearing for various petitioners. These advocates mentioned the matter and sought an early hearing into it.So far, around eight petitions have been filed in the Supreme Court challenging the constitutional validity of the Waqf Amendment Act, seeking a stay on its implementation along with other reliefs.Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for Maulana Arshad Madani, president of the Islamic clerics’ body Jamiat Ulema-i-Hind, sought an early hearing of the matter. In response, Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna questioned the need for oral mention, pointing out that a robust system exists for seeking urgent listing through email.In response, Sibal clarified that an email request for urgent listing had already been submitted. Following this, the CJI assured him that the matter would be examined in the afternoon and appropriate action would be taken.In his plea, Madani argued that the amendments to the Waqf Act were detrimental to the administration and jurisprudence of waqf in India, claiming they amounted to an attempt to redefine the very nature of waqfs in the country.
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