The Supreme Court rejected a request to shift the Waqf Act case from Delhi High Court, remarking, “Petitions are nowadays being filed only for the newspapers” and questioned the urgency behind rushing to court.
The Supreme Court declined to consider a request to transfer a petition that challenges the 1995 Waqf Act from the Delhi High Court to itself.
Chief Justice B R Gavai, leading a bench that included Justices K Vinod Chandran and N V Anjaria, expressed concern that courts are increasingly being utilized to generate headlines rather than for genuine legal issues.
The plea, submitted by advocate Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay, sought to move his challenge against various provisions of the Waqf Act to the Supreme Court.
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At the beginning of the hearing, the Chief Justice questioned,
“This issue is already pending before this court. Why do you want more petitions?”
The bench pointed out that a previous panel, chaired by then Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna, had already established a timeline for admitting such challenges.
The court also allowed new petitioners to submit intervention applications in an existing group of 11 petitions that are contesting similar aspects of the Act.
Upadhyay, representing himself, argued that he was the first to raise this challenge, claiming his petition highlighted alleged “land grab” activities by waqf boards involving over 40 lakh acres.
In response, the Chief Justice remarked,
“You are always the first. What is the hurry to rush to court? Only after seeing the newspapers? Petitions are nowadays being filed only for the newspapers.”
He concluded,
“We are not inclined to entertain the prayer.”
Upadhyay’s writ petition in the Delhi High Court questions the constitutional validity of Sections 4 to 9 and Section 14 of the Waqf Act, 1995, as amended by the Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025.
He asserts that these provisions are arbitrary and infringe on fundamental rights under Articles 14, 15, 21, 25, and 27 of the Constitution. A similar challenge to the Waqf Act and its 2025 amendments is already before the Supreme Court, where a series of petitions are being reviewed.
Case Title : ASHWINI KUMAR UPADHYAY Vs. UNION OF INDIA AND ORS., T.P.(C) No. 1652/2025