Thiruvananthapuram/Kochi, Apr 17 (PTI) The CPI(M), Congress and its ally the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) on Thursday welcomed the Supreme Court’s decision asking the Centre not to denotify waqf properties registered under the 1995 Waqf Act till May 5.

The apex court also told the union government that there should not be any appointment in the central waqf council and boards in the meantime.

The Centre assured the top court that neither waqf properties, including “waqf by user”, will be denotified nor appointments will be made to the central waqf council and boards till May 5.

Welcoming the SC order, CPI(M) state secretary M V Govindan said the apex court’s intervention was a relief for the secular groups in the country.

He said that the order was an effective defence against the Centre’s “arbitrary” anti-secular decision to amend the Waqf Act.

The Marxist veteran, speaking to reporters in Thiruvananthapuram, said that the final decision from the top court would be in their favour.

AICC general secretary K C Venugopal said no one expected that a law passed by the Parliament would be stayed by the apex court. But, through its interim order, the Supreme Court has given a big message to the country that the concerns raised by the INDIA bloc and Congress in the Parliament about the amendments in the Waqf Act, were correct.

He also claimed that the top court has observed that the Act was passed in violation of the basic principles of the Constitution.

Venugopal further claimed that the apex court raised the same questions during the hearing that the opposition had in the Parliament. “This interim order is a win for us, democracy and the Constitution,” the Congress leader told reporters in Kochi.

IUML national general secretary P K Kunhalikutty said that the apex court, as an interim measure, stopped implementation of certain provisions of the Act and it indicates that the matter is being heard in an unbiased manner.

“So far so good. It is in the nature of an interim stay,” he said, but added that it was part of the usual legal process and it needs to be seen what would be the final decision.

The Supreme Court’s directions came on pleas challenging the validity of the Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025.

The court gave the Centre a week’s time to file its preliminary response to the petitions and listed it for hearing on May 5. PTI HMP HMP KH