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.