A 31-member Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) has been established to review the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2024. The committee will comprise 21 members from the Lok Sabha and 10 from the Rajya Sabha. The formation of the committee was announced by Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju on Friday.
The JPC will include prominent figures such as AIMIM leader Asaduddin Owaisi and Congress MP Imran Masood.
In Lok Sabha, Kiren Rijiju proposed the names of 21 Lok Sabha MPs for JPC into Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2024; also asked Rajya Sabha to recommend the names of 10 Members to be appointed to the JPC.
21 MPs from Lok Sabha who will be members of the JPC are Jagdambika Pal, Nishikant Dubey, Tejasvi Surya, Aparajita Sarangi, Sanjay Jaiswal, Dilip Saikia, Abhijit Gangopadhyay, DK Aruna, Gaurav Gogoi, Imran Masood, Mohammad Jawed, Maulana Mohibullah Nadvi, Kalyan Banerjee, A Raja, Lavu Sri Krishna Devarayalu, Dileshwar Kamait, Arvind Sawant, Suresh Gopinath, Naresh Ganpat Mhaske, Arun Bharti and Asaduddin Owaisi.
After that, the proposal was passed by the House.
In Rajya Sabha, Kiren Rijiju proposed the names of 10 Rajya Sabha MPs for JPC into the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2024; 21 Lok Sabha MPs also are a part of the Committee.
10 MPs from Rajya Sabha who will be members of the JPC are – Brij Lal, Dr. Medha Vishram Kulkarni, Gulam Ali, Dr. Radha Mohan Das Agrawal, Syed Naseer Hussain, Mohammed Nadeem Ul Haq, V Vijayasai Reddy, M. Mohamed Abdulla, Sanjay Singh and Dr Dharmasthala Veerendra Heggade.
The Motion was passed by the House.
The motion to form the JPC was approved by both Houses of Parliament. Following this, both the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha were adjourned sine die.
This development follows the introduction of the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2024, by Kiren Rijiju on Thursday. The bill’s referral to a joint parliamentary committee came after strong objections from opposition parties. The Congress, DMK, NCP, Trinamool Congress, and AIMIM have criticized the bill, arguing that it undermines federalism and constitutional principles. While some members have called for the bill’s withdrawal, others have suggested that it be sent to a standing committee for further examination.
The Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2024 seeks to rename the existing Waqf Act of 1995 to the Unified Waqf Management, Empowerment, Efficiency, and Development Act, 1995.