Waqf bill jpc report to be tabled in parliament today amid row over opposition's dissent notes

Waqf bill jpc report to be tabled in parliament today amid row over opposition's dissent notes

The Jagdambika Pal-led Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) report on the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2024, will on Monday be tabled in Parliament, where Budget Session is underway.

According to the List of Business, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Jagdambika Pal, along with Sanjay Jaiswal, will present the report (Hindi and English versions), along with the record of evidence given before the committee that helped it reach the conclusion that it did.

Jagdambika Pal met with Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Thursday to present the committee's final report on the bill.

‘We have adopted the report and the amended revised bill. For the first time, we have included a section stating that the benefits of Waqf should go to the marginalized, poor, women, and orphans. Tomorrow, we will present this report to the Speaker,’ he told news agency ANI on Wednesday.

‘We had 44 clauses before us, out of which amendments were proposed by members in 14 clauses. We conducted a majority vote, and these amendments were then adopted,’ Pal added.

The JPC adopted the draft report and the amended revised bill on Wednesday, January 29. However, the opposition leaders submitted their dissent notes on the report.

The JPC had earlier cleared the Waqf Bill 1995 with 25 amendments across 14 clauses and sections.

Asadudin Owaisi says his dissent note redacted

AIMIM's Asaduddin Owaisi claimed parts of his dissent note on the JPC report were deleted. According to him, they just ‘stated facts’

‘I had submitted a detailed dissent note to JPC against Waqf Bill. It is shocking that parts of my note were redacted without my knowledge. The deleted sections were not controversial, they only stated facts,’ he said on X.

Owaisi also asked why the JPC chairperson Jagdambika Pal was stifling opposition voices even though he ‘got the report he wanted’.

The Waqf Act of 1995, enacted to regulate Waqf properties, has long been criticised for issues such as mismanagement, corruption, and encroachments.

The Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2024, aims to address these challenges by introducing reforms such as digitisation, enhanced audits, improved transparency, and legal mechanisms to reclaim illegally occupied properties.