SC declines plea seeking transfer of Waqf Act petition from Delhi HC

The Supreme Court on Tuesday declined to entertain a plea seeking transfer of a petition challenging the 1995 Waqf Act from the Delhi High Court to the apex court.

A bench headed by Chief Justice B R Gavai said that courts are increasingly being used for generating newspaper headlines rather than genuine legal redress.

The bench, which also comprised Justices K Vinod Chandran and N V Anjaria, made sharp remarks while hearing a transfer petition filed by advocate Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay.

The petition sought to move his challenge to various provisions of the Waqf Act from the Delhi High Court to the Supreme Court.

"This issue is already pending before this court. Why do you want more petitions," the CJI asked at the outset.

The bench noted that an earlier bench led by then CJI Sanjiv Khanna had already set a clear timeline for admitting such challenges.

The court had also permitted fresh petitioners to file intervention applications in the ongoing batch of 11 petitions challenging similar provisions of the Act.

Appearing in person, Upadhyay argued, "I was the first person to challenge this," insisting that his petition was the one that drew public attention to the alleged "land grab" by waqf boards involving over 40 lakh acres.

"You are always the first. What is the hurry to rush to court? Only after seeing the newspapers? Petitions are nowadays being filed only for the newspapers," the CJI said.

"We are not inclined to entertain the prayer."

Upadhyay's writ petition before the Delhi High Court challenges the constitutional validity of Sections 4 to 9 and Section 14 of the Waqf Act, 1995, as amended by the Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025.

He said that these provisions are arbitrary and violate fundamental rights under Articles 14, 15, 21, 25, and 27 of the Constitution.

A similar challenge to the Waqf Act and its 2025 amendments is already pending before the Supreme Court, where a batch of petitions is being heard.