The Supreme Court on Wednesday refused to entertain a petition filed by BJP leader and lawyer Ashwini Upadhyay, which claimed the Waqf Act was a violation of Hindus and non-Muslims. The two-judge bench said it doesn’t entertain challenges to legislation in the abstract or allow publicity stunts.
Besides refusing to entertain the petition, the bench headed by Justice Chandrachud and Surya Kant, also said that it could not direct the parliament as the common law for all trust lies within the constitutional domain of Parliament and asked the petitioner to approach an appropriate forum.
Justice Chandrachud questioned the petitioner to show him the facts of a particular case if the latter had been prosecuted under the law. In contrast, Justice Surya Kant asked whether the property had been taken or the petitioner had been evicted.
However, the petitioner sought permission to read out a note loud from the petition, but the judges denied it and said, “We don’t want this publicity stunt by allowing you to read out the note in the court”.
Justice Chandrachud has also advised the petitioner to be very careful when challenging the law that a legislative body has enforced.
Claiming that the Waqf Act violates the right to equality and freedom of religion, the petitioner sought a uniform code for trusts, charity institutions etc. The petitioner also tells the bench that the Parliament cannot make a special law to deal with the trusts of a particular religious community.
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