The Supreme Court on Friday declined to hear a petition filed by a waqf mutawalli who had raised technical and structural issues with the Centre’s UMEED portal, which is used to upload details of waqf properties. The bench, led by Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi, said the concerns were largely administrative and could be addressed by the relevant authorities.
The petitioner, Hashmat Ali, a mutawalli from Madhya Pradesh, was given the liberty to approach the appropriate authorities for redressal. The Chief Justice questioned why the petition had been filed directly in the Supreme Court instead of first approaching a high court. Senior advocate Maneka Guruswamy, representing Ali, explained that the high court was unlikely to entertain the matter as challenges to the 2025 amendments to the Waqf law were already pending before the top court.
The court observed that the petition did not raise any substantial constitutional issue but focused on administrative difficulties in using the portal. These included technical glitches and concerns about the classification of waqfs under the Waqf Rules, 2025. Ali had pointed out that the category of ‘Waqf by survey’ was merged under ‘Waqf by user’ and the portal did not provide a separate option for it. Justice Bagchi noted that the ministry had clarified that ‘Waqf by survey’ now falls under the ‘Waqf by user’ category.
Ali also questioned the enforceability of the mandatory digital registration of waqf properties under Section 3B of the Unified Waqf Management, Empowerment, Efficiency and Development (UMEED) Act, 1995, arguing that the portal was structurally flawed and technologically unfit. The UMEED portal, launched by the Centre on June 6, 2025, aims to create a digital inventory of all waqf properties across India with geo-tagging, and mandates that all details be uploaded within six months.
The Supreme Court’s refusal means that waqf mutawallis will need to approach designated authorities to resolve any technical or administrative issues related to the portal.
