Exclusive | Modi govt’s 3-point agenda ahead of 2024 elections

What’s next on the agenda for the Narendra Modi government? There are three things, according to sources.

One is to amend the Waqf Act, which has come under scrutiny due to questions over the constitutional validity of some of its provisions. The second is implementing the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) in some BJP-ruled states. The third is notifying the rules under the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) of 2019 to make it operational.

Waqf Act issues

In March this year, the Centre informed the Delhi High Court that nearly 120 writ petitions challenging one or more provisions of the Waqf Act were pending before various courts. It was necessary to take a clear and consistent view in all these pending matters, it pointed out.

Waqf has its roots in Islamic tradition. Under this system, the ownership of a property is transferred by a donor as an endowment, dedicated for charitable or religious purposes in perpetuity. Waqf properties are managed by a Waqf Board to ensure the revenue from them is used for charitable purposes. Other religious communities in the country do not have any provisions similar to Waqf.

In Independent India, the first Waqf Act was enacted in 1954 to regulate Waqf properties. In 1995, the Act was amended for the establishment of Waqf Boards in all states and Union Territories. It was further amended in 2013 to strengthen the powers of the Waqf Council, allowing it to issue directions to state Waqf Boards — till then, it had been just an advisory body. The amendment also stipulated that all the states should establish a Waqf Board each within one year if they had not done so already.

Waqf Act and the Constitution

“But despite amendments there are certain provisions of the Waqf Act which do not go well with the constitutional scheme of things,” said a source. “For instance, there is a provision in the Act for a tribunal to be headed by a judicial officer drawn from the state service and two other members (who may not be Muslims) for deciding on disputes related to Waqf properties. The Act says if the Waqf Board has taken control of a property, and one cannot prove to the Waqf Board tribunal the possession of said property, one will have to abandon it. The tribunal’s ruling will be final.”

“Interestingly, civil courts are barred from interfering in the matter decided by the tribunal. It is a provision that needs a relook,” the source added.

The source further pointed to another provision that allows the board to decide whether a property is Waqf-owned or not. The Waqf Board can take a call by surveying the property on its own. As such the provision doesn’t provide for the parties to be heard before their land is taken by the Waqf Board, whose decision can be challenged only in the tribunal.

According to a government statement, as of December 2022, a total of 8,65,646 Waqf immovable properties were under management. And Waqf Boards are considered to be the country’s third biggest landowners after the Defence Ministry and the Railways.

UCC at state level

According to the sources, the second item on the Modi government’s agenda is the implementation of Uniform Civil Code (UCC) in a couple of BJP-ruled states.

UCC at the central level has taken a backseat for now. But it could get implemented in Uttarakhand and a few other BJP-ruled states soon, said the sources. “Uttarakhand has already done considerable ground work for this. So, the hill state is an obvious choice to implement it first,” said one of the sources.

UCC is meant to replace personal laws with one common law for all, irrespective of region, religion, caste, creed, sexual orientation, and gender.

CAA rules notification

“Another box that the government wants to tick is the operationalisation of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) of 2019 by notifying rules under it,” said a source.

The CAA rules could not be notified earlier for various reasons but now the government has decided to go ahead with it, added the source. Many preparatory meetings have been held at various levels in the government to discuss the scenarios once the rules are notified, given the fact that when the Act was passed, protests against it had turned violent.

With dates for the Assembly elections in five states announced on Monday, the timeline for implementing the three-point agenda is a bit flexible. But chances that these boxes will be ticked as soon as the assembly elections are done are rather high, added the sources.