The Central Government has got a big victory from the Supreme Court regarding online registration of Waqf properties. The Supreme Court on Monday clearly refused to extend the last date for online registration of Waqf properties on the UMEED portal.
The Supreme Court made it clear that the parties who have any objection or complaint regarding this process can present their case before the concerned Waqf Tribunal. The court said that the appropriate forum for this already exists under the law, so there is no need to extend the date.
Why did the Supreme Court reject the demand?
The Supreme Court gave this decision on the petitions of All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB), AIMIM leader Asaduddin Owaisi and many other parties. In this petition, a demand was made to extend the six-month deadline for registration on the Umeed portal. But the court clearly said that ‘there is no question of extending the deadline, if necessary go to the tribunal.’
What did the court say on the new Waqf law?
The court had also said that there does not appear to be any prima facie inconsistency in removing the concept of ‘Waqf by user’ and the fear of taking over government land is ‘not factual’.
What is Umeed Portal?
The Center had launched the UMEED portal on June 6. Its objective is to create a national digital, geo-tagged record of all Waqf properties in the country. It has been made mandatory to upload the data of all registered Waqf properties on this portal within 6 months.
The petitioners said that it is difficult to upload records of thousands of properties across the country in such a short time, hence the deadline should be extended. However, the court made it clear that there is no need to extend the time and the remedies available in the law should be followed.
