New Delhi: The Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) scrutinising the contentious Waqf Amendment Bill will meet on Wednesday to adopt final amendments to the clauses that were discussed on Monday. The chairman of the Joint Committee of Parliament scrutinising the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, Jagdambika Pal, has said the panel's draft report and the amended version of the proposed law will be adopted at its meeting.

He made the remarks to the media as he chaired what is likely the last meeting of the committee.

"We had circulated the 656-page JPC report to all members. Based on all deliberations of the JPC and the report prepared after that, the JPC committee will finally adopt the report... Today is an important day for JPC on Waqf for two reasons- we will present our reports to the Speaker of the Lok Sabha and get it adopted, and also get the amended revised bill adopted... It is a member's right to support or oppose... As soon as the report is adopted, I will inform the Speaker and he will proceed as per procedure...," Jagadambika Pal said.

The JPC had on Monday approved the Waqf Amendment Bill with 14 amendments proposed by the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) members.

Opposition MPs had submitted 44 changes which were rejected, which led to a furore by political parties.

Voting on the proposed changes will be held today.

Ahead of the meeting, several opposition MPs met to discuss their agenda as many of them are preparing their dissent against the committee's recommendations.

The Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2024, was referred to the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) on August 8, 2024 following its introduction in the Lok Sabha by Union Minority Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju.

The bill aims to amend the Waqf Act, 1995, to address issues and challenges in regulating and managing waqf properties. PTI