The biggest change in the ‘Waqf Amendment Bill 2024’ & Nbsp; presented in the Lok Sabha on 2 April is to eliminate section 40. This section only allowed this board to convert any land into Waqf property. Minority Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju on Wednesday described it as the most rigorous provision of the Waqf Act during a debate in Parliament.
Rijiju said during the discussion that, ‘The most rigorous provision in the Act is sex 40, & nbsp; under which the Waqf Board could declare any land as Waqf property, but under the amendment we have removed that provision."& nbsp;
In such a situation, the question arises whether this section is 40 and what will be the change to remove it & nbsp;
section 40 & nbsp;
Section 40 of the Waqf Act is associated with deciding about Waqf properties. This means that if the question arises about any property whether it is Waqf property or not, the Waqf Board can decide this question.
Under this section, if the Waqf Board considers a property as Waqf property, then this decision is final. This means that the government or any other institution cannot interfere in this decision. If someone objected to the decision of the board, then he could appeal to the Waqf Tribunal. & Nbsp;
This section used to give the Waqf Board in a way to decide without any external pressure whether there is any property Waqf property. Also, if the property of another trust or society needed to register as a Waqf property, the board could have instructed him to do so.
Now, the Waqf Amendment Bill proposes to remove this section, which has raised questions on the strength and freedom of the Waqf Board.
Government intervention
Under section 40, there was no direct intervention of the government or any other government institution on the board’s decision. This means that the decision of the board is paramount in cases of Waqf properties. & Nbsp;
Under this section, if any property was registered under another trust or society, but the Waqf Board feels that the property could be Waqf property, the board could investigate it. If the board decided that it is the property Waqf property, then that trust or society was asked to register under the Waqf Act.
What does you want to remove section 40
This section has been removed in Waqf (Amendment) Bill 2025. Regarding this change, the Union Minister announced in Parliament that section 40 will no longer be implemented.
Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Kaln Banerjee said in Parliament that if section 40 is removed, the Waqf Board will remain as a ‘doll’, which will have no strength. He said that if this section is removed, there is no point in maintaining the Waqf Board and its powers should be given directly to the minister.
Central Government’s argument
The central government says that this change will bring transparency and effectiveness in the management of Waqf properties. He believes that there will now be no confusion in cases of Waqf properties and this process will be more simple and smooth,
what will be its effect
Opposition says that this change will eliminate the autonomy of the Waqf Board and the government will get more control in the cases of Waqf properties. At the same time, the government says that this change will improve the management of Waqf properties. Now it has to be seen what steps are taken on this bill and what will be the effect on the Waqf Board. & Nbsp;