The Rajya Sabha was adjourned at 4 am on Friday after a 17-hour sitting. It will meet again later in the day at 11 am on April 4.
Before adjourning the proceedings, Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar said it was a “rare occasion” that the House dispersed at 4.02 am to meet again at 11 am on the same day.
The House had assembled at 11 am on Thursday (April 3) and took up the scheduled Zero Hour and Question Hour.
At 1 pm on Thursday, it took up the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2025. It was passed at around 2.30 pm on Friday. The ruling NDA members defended the legislation as beneficial for minorities, while the opposition described it as “unconstitutional” during the debate.
All government bodies should be secular: Rijiju
Eventually, 128 members voted in favour of the bill, and 95 wereagainst it.
Minority Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju said in Rajya Sabha that the Bill was brought with a number of amendments based on suggestions given by various stakeholders. “The Waqf Board is a statutory body. All government bodies should be secular,” the minister said, explaining the inclusion of non-Muslims on the board.
The proposed legislation now goes for approval by the President before it becomes a law replacing the Waqf Act of 1995 governing Waqf properties in India.
Resolution on Manipur President’s Rule
The House then passed a statutory resolution moved by Union Home Minister Amit Shah on imposing President’s Rule in Manipur.
A day before, the Lok Sabha sat for a marathon 15.41 hours to clear the controversial Waqf Bill and adopt a Statutory Resolution on the President’s Rule in Manipur. This was one of the longest sittings of the lower house since the first session in 1952.
The Bill on Waqf seeking to amend the existing Waqf laws was passed with a 288-232 vote after a 12-hour-long debate. The voting process for the Bill lasted 1:49 hours. Manipur debate took about 41 minutes.
It is a rare occasion that the House dispersed at 4.02 am to meet again at 11 am on the same day.
While the Waqf Bill took nearly 14 hours, the Mussalman Wakf (Repeal) Bill was passed in minutes in Lok Sabha. The debate and voting on the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, which started a little after noon Wednesday, ended only at 1:56 AM on Thursday.
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