The Lok Sabha on Thursday passed a resolution extending the tenure of the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) on the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2024, until the last day of the Budget Session in 2025. JPC chairman and BJP MP Jagdambika Pal moved the motion in the House, which was approved by a voice vote.

Moving the motion in the Lok Sabha, the JPC chairman said, “I would like to move that this House extend the time for the presentation of the Report of the Joint Committee on the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2024, up to the last day of the Budget Session, 2025.”

The JPC comprises 21 members from the Lok Sabha and 10 from the Rajya Sabha, including 13 Opposition members (nine from the Lower House and four from the Upper House).

The Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2024, aims to bring significant reforms, including digitisation of records, stricter audits, increased transparency, and legal mechanisms to reclaim illegally occupied Waqf properties. The Bill, aimed at reforming the management and regulation of Waqf properties across the country, has been deferred due to heated debates and disruptions within the JPC between ruling BJP members and Opposition leaders.

The JPC is holding a series of meetings to gather input from government officials, legal experts, Waqf Board members, and community representatives from different states and Union Territories, aiming for the most comprehensive reform possible.

Talking to a news agency about the extension of the tenure of the JPC on the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2024, Pal said, “We moved a motion to extend the tenure of the JPC, and the House approved it with a voice vote. Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju noted that this extension addresses the Opposition’s demand for a detailed discussion on the Bill.”

The JPC Chairman had announced that he was seeking an extension for the tenure of the panel after the Opposition staged a walkout from the meeting of the committee on Wednesday.

The Opposition stormed out of the meeting, asserting that the procedures were not being followed and that the panel Chairman was willing to submit a report on November 29, even though they had requested Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla to extend the tenure of the committee.

Criticising the Opposition, Pal said, “This extension refutes these claims made by the Opposition that the government does not want a detailed discussion and wants to bulldoze their voice, and proves that we want a detailed discussion.”

The JPC Chairman said during the meeting held by the committee on Wednesday, it was decided that there are around 6 states where there is a dispute between the state government and the Waqf Board on the ownership of properties, and looking at those disputes, it was decided to get an extension for the JPC.

“The Speaker had given a mandate on the JPC, but during the meeting held on Wednesday, it was noted that there are certain properties where disputes exist between the state government and the Waqf Board, with the board claiming ownership. There are six such states, and we had asked for a reply from them, but we haven’t received one,” he told a news agency.

“We have now decided to present our findings on the last day of the 2025 Budget Session,” Pal said.

He further said that the previous government had also decided on handing over the government properties to the Waqf Board, but that decision had been stayed by the court.

“The properties were acquired by the British in 1911 after compensation was given. In the 1970s, the Waqf Board claimed that 123 such properties were theirs. The issue resurfaced when the previous (United Progressive Alliance) government decided to hand over the properties at the rate of Rs 1 per acre per annum just before the elections. The court stayed that decision, or else government property worth around Rs 1 lakh crore would have gone into the hands of the Waqf Board. Therefore, we decided it was better to seek an extension,” Pal said.

Earlier, Pal also said that the Opposition is unnecessarily complaining about the workload in the committee.

“The people should understand that repeated, long meetings have been held — more than 125 hours in total. We have met with Waqf boards, minority commissions, and government officers from states like Telangana, Odisha, Assam, Gujarat, and Tamil Nadu. The Opposition is complaining to the speaker about the continuous sittings and the work in the committee, saying that I call them three times a week for meetings that last up to eight hours a day,” he said.

Criticising the Opposition, he added, “We have been given an important mandate, and we are hearing everyone. Previously, I used to hear complaints about work not being completed, but this is the first time I have heard the Opposition complaining about working too much. We have given them a lot of chances and listen to them for up to eight hours.”