The joint committee of Parliament reviewing the Waqf (Amendment) Bill will on Monday submit its final report to Lok Sabha amid opposition claiming that their dissent notes were redacted without their consent. The submission comes as the Budget Session continues.
Panel chief Jagdambika Pal, along with BJP MP Sanjay Jaiswal, will table the report (Hindi and English versions) in Lok Sabha today. Apart from the report, they will also present the record of evidence that the panel has gathered during the discussions.
Jagdambika Pal met Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on January 30 to submit the panel’s final report on the bill.
The panel on January 29 approved its report on the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, incorporating changes proposed by members of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The report was adopted by a 15-11 vote, drawing criticism from opposition leaders, who accused the government of attempting to dismantle Waqf boards.
‘PANEL CENSORING DISSENTING VOICES OF OPPOSITION’
In response to the report, opposition members submitted dissenting notes. However, Congress MP Syed Naseer Hussain and All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief Asaduddin Owaisi have alleged that sections of their dissent note on the bill were redacted without their knowledge. The Congress MP, in a potshot at the panel, claimed that they are censoring the “dissenting voices of Opposition MPS.”
“I had submitted a detailed dissent note to JPC against the 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,” Owaisi said on X.
“The Joint Committee on Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2024, was already reduced to a farce, but now they’ve stooped even lower—censoring dissenting voices of opposition MPs! What are they so scared of? Why this attempt to silence us?” Hussain said on X.
The Waqf Act of 1995, enacted to regulate Waqf properties, has faced longstanding criticism over mismanagement, corruption, and encroachments. However, BJP members argued that the bill, introduced in the Lok Sabha in August last year, aims to modernise the management of Waqf properties while ensuring transparency and accountability.