Sree Narayana Guru Trust Moves Supreme Court Against Waqf Amendment Act, 2025

The Sree Narayana Manava Dharmam Trust, dedicated to preserving and promoting the teachings of social reformer Sree Narayana Guru, has approached the Supreme Court seeking intervention in the ongoing constitutional challenge to the Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025. The Trust filed its intervention application on April 3, 2025, aligning itself with the petitioners who have questioned the constitutional validity of the new amendments.

Rooted in the egalitarian and spiritual philosophy of Sree Narayana Guru—who, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, was instrumental in breaking down caste barriers in Kerala—the Trust stated that it is compelled to act in defense of religious harmony and social justice. It argued that the 2025 amendments undermine these principles by severely affecting the Muslim community’s right to religious charity.

Describing the Amendment Act as a “fraud on the Constitution,” the Trust contended that the legislative changes effectively dismantle the institution of waqf—a centuries-old Islamic charitable endowment system—replacing it with a government-mandated structure devoid of its core theological and legal principles.

According to the Trust, what remains after the amendment cannot be considered waqf in either legal or religious terms. The Act allegedly strips away the foundational Islamic tenets that govern waqf, and instead introduces a state-controlled framework, which the Trust claims is both constitutionally impermissible and fundamentally misaligned with Islamic law.

A particularly contentious change is the removal of the 'waqf by user' provision. The Trust argues this erases a critical aspect of the waqf tradition, reducing it to a purely administrative mechanism. It further submits that the Act wrongly reclassifies waqf as a secular institution, thereby disregarding its status as a protected religious practice under Articles 13 and 29(1) of the Indian Constitution.

Moreover, the application criticizes the shift from democratic elections to state appointments in the formation of Waqf Boards. The Trust argues that this change imposes "non-democratic norms of Brahmanism" on the waqf system, violating the religious obligation that waqf must be administered through democratic means.

The intervention application was drafted and filed by senior legal professionals, Dr. G. Mohan Gopal and Vaibhav Choudhary.

The case, titled IN RE THE WAQF (AMENDMENT) ACT, 2025 (W.P. (C) No. 276/2025), is being heard by a bench comprising Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna, and Justices K.V. Viswanathan and Sanjay Kumar.

The bench is scheduled to resume hearings today at 2 PM, focusing on preliminary objections and any interim relief sought.