The Supreme Court of India received 237 petitions to fight that the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA)is unconstitutional. A bench led by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud and Justice JB Pardiwala and Manoj Mishra is hearing the matter.
After the central move to provide citizenship by implementing the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) before the Lok Sabha election, the Supreme Court received a batch of 237 petitions directly challenging the law. The bench held by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud is hearing the matter.
Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) is one of the prominent petitioners. This political party of Kerala along with democratic youth federation of India Congress leader Jairam Ramesh, Trinamul leader Mahua Moitra, and AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi filed petitions against CAA.
As soon as the center notified CAA rules both the organisations approached the Supreme Court seeking an immediate pause on implementing the law. They termed the CAA as a discriminatory law against the minority community of Muslims.
In 2019 When the Citizenship Amendment Bill cleared the parliament various petitions were filed against its approval. However, the court did not pass the implementation. On Friday senior advocate Kapil Sibal told the court that there is no question of postback since the rules were not notified. Also, the solicitor general Tushar Mehta said that the fact that the rules were notified before the elections is irrelevant.
As per the Citizenship Act, non-Muslim migrants from Bangladesh Pakistan, and Afghanistan who have fled as a result of religious persecution can seek Indian citizenship. Persons from Hindu, Sikh Buddhist, Jain, Parsi, or Christian communities from Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan who have entered and settled in India on or before 31 December 2014 are eligible to seek citizenship.
The opposition party has criticised the ruling government over the timing of implementing the law. They underline that the Narendra Modi government implemented the law after 4 years of being cleared by the parliament. Party leader Jairam Ramesh quoted that the move is designed to polarise the elections, particularly in West Bengal and Assam.
Chief Minister of Bengal and leader of the Trinamool Congress, Mamata Banerjee, has claimed there is a plot to ‘snatch citizenship rights’ and expressed questions about the validity of the CAA. ‘According to BJP officials, CAA confers privileges. However, you will lose your privileges and become an illegal immigrant as soon as you file for citizenship. You’ll be placed in detention camps and have your rights revoked. Think before you apply, please,’ she said.
The claims of the opposition party have been trashed by the center. Home Minister Amit Shah emphasised that CAA is not unconstitutional and the opposition is engaging in the politics of lies. He further went on to add that the BJP planned CAA in its 2019 manifesto and decided to grant Indian citizenship to refugees from the above-mentioned countries. The Citizenship Amendment Bill was approved by both chambers of the parliament in 2019 as part of BJP’s defined goal. The main reason for the delay is due to COVID-19. The status that the country’s minorities need not be in distress because CAA doesn’t take back the rights of any present Indian citizen. For more information, get in touch with our senior legal experts from Vakilsearch.
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