Kochi: In a strategic legal move, the Christian Alliance & Association for Social Action (CASA) has petitioned the Supreme Court to intervene in the ongoing challenge to the Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025, citing a major land dispute in Kerala’s Ernakulam district.
The Supreme Court is currently hearing a batch of pleas — including one filed by the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) — that question the constitutional validity of the recent amendments to the Waqf Act.
CASA’s Kerala state president Kevin Peter filed the application, drawing the court’s attention to the plight of over 600 Christian families in Munambam, who face the risk of losing their land after it was allegedly classified as waqf property without due legal procedure. The contested land spans approximately 400 acres and is backed by long-standing sale deeds and official revenue records.
According to CASA, the Waqf Board’s claim rests on a 1950 document, which the Kerala High Court had already interpreted in 1975 as a gift deed, not a waqf deed. The group argues that this arbitrary classification has robbed residents of their property rights, obstructing routine financial transactions and legal ownership.
Defending the Waqf Act amendments, CASA called them a “necessary correction” to curb such unilateral actions by the Waqf Board.
The move also signals CASA’s rising political ambitions, as it gears up to contest the 2026 Kerala Assembly elections as an ally of the BJP-led NDA — adding a new layer to the ongoing legal and political debate around religious land rights.
