Supreme Court refuses to extend Waqf property registration deadline for UMEED portal. Act now: approach tribunals before the last date. Learn more!
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday declined to extend the deadline for the mandatory registration of all waqf properties, including those classified as “waqf by user”, on the Centre’s UMEED portal.
A bench of Justices Dipankar Datta and Augustine George Masih said that petitioners seeking relief must approach the respective Waqf Tribunals before the six-month deadline expires.
“Our attention has been drawn to the proviso to Section 3B. Since the remedy before the tribunal is available before the applicants, we dispose of all the applications by granting them liberty to approach the tribunal by the last date of the six-month period,” the bench said.
Petitions filed by AIMPLB, Owaisi, among others
The All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB), AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi, and several others had approached the court seeking more time to complete the mandatory registration process. Their petitions argued that the six-month window was insufficient for uploading detailed records of all waqf properties across India.
Earlier, counsel representing the petitioners informed the court that the deadline was approaching and urged for an extension.
Court’s earlier interim order
In an interim order on September 15, the top court put on hold a few key provisions of the Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025, including a clause that only those practising Islam for the last five years could create waqf, but refused to stay the entire law, outlining the presumption of constitutionality in its favour.
It also held the Centre’s order to delete the ‘waqf by user’ provision in the newly amended law was prima facie not arbitrary and the argument that waqf lands would be grabbed by governments held “no water”.
What is ‘Waqf by user’?
Waqf by user refers to properties recognised as waqf through long-term, uninterrupted public use for religious or charitable purposes, even without a formal declaration from the owner.
About the UMEED portal
The Centre launched the UMEED, Unified Waqf Management, Empowerment, Efficiency and Development portal on June 6, 2025, to digitise and geo-tag all waqf properties across the country.
Under the portal’s mandate, all details of registered waqf properties must be uploaded within six months. With the Supreme Court refusing to grant more time, stakeholders now have no option but to approach Waqf Tribunals directly for any relief.
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