The Supreme Court on Monday refused to grant additional time for uploading details of waqf (Islamic charitable endowments) on the centralised digital portal, holding that the Waqf (Amendment) Act provides a statutory remedy through the tribunal.
A bench of justices Dipankar Datta and AG Masih referred to the provision in the law while declining the request. 
&ldquo;Our attention has been drawn to Section 3B(1) proviso. Since the remedy before the tribunal is available, we allow the petitioners to approach the tribunal,&rdquo; the bench said.
Senior advocates Kapil Sibal and Abhishek Manu Singhvi, representing applicants seeking more time, cited technical glitches in the portal and argued that many details could not be uploaded. 
They said the six-month period was inadequate for compiling historical documentation. 
Sibal told the court, &ldquo;If this order is to be followed, then about 10 lakh [one million] mutawallis [custodians] have to go to the tribunal. We want to comply, but we want to tell the court the impossibility that we are facing.&rdquo;
The Unified Waqf Management, Empowerment, Efficiency, and Development portal was launched on June 6 to consolidate waqf data on a single platform. 
The statutory six-month deadline for registration ends on December 6.
The bench observed that Section 3B(1) was not among the provisions the court stayed in September. 
&ldquo;How can we rewrite the judgment when the statute provides for a remedy. This was a matter thrashed out before the court at the interim stage,&rdquo; it said, adding that while some applicants may have genuine reasons, those &ldquo;who sit idly will also get the benefit.&rdquo;
Solicitor general Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Union government, disputed claims of technical glitches. 
He said nearly 100,000 waqfs have already completed registration. 
Mehta pointed out that compulsory registration of waqfs has existed since 1929 and confirmed that the time limit remains intact as Section 3B(1) has not been stayed.
Applicants, including the All India Personal Law Board and parliamentarian Asaduddin Owaisi, argued that the information required&mdash;such as identification, boundaries, usage, occupier details, names and addresses of creators, mode and date of creation, and deeds&mdash;was extensive and often related to century-old properties.
Some state governments also highlighted difficulties in uploading data during the hearing. 
The court, however, maintained that the statutory remedy must be pursued through the tribunal.

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December 1, 2025 | 17:08 IST