SC to hear petitions challenging Citizenship Amendment Act on Wednesday

Several petitions have been filed in the Supreme Court and high courts across the country for and against the CAA.

New Delhi: The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear more than 140 petitions challenging or supporting the Citizenship Amendment Act 2019 (CAA) on Wednesday. A Bench of Chief Justice of India (CJI) SA Bobde, Justice S Abdul Nazeer and Justice Sanjiv Khanna will hear the pleas, which also include one filed by the central government seeking transfer of such petitions pending before several high courts to the apex court.

Several petitions have been filed challenging the constitutional validity of the CAA, including those by RJD leader Manoj Jha, Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra, AIMIM leader Asaduddin Owaisi. Several other petitioners include Muslim body Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind, All Assam Students Union (AASU), Peace Party, CPI, NGOs 'Rihai Manch' and Citizens Against Hate, advocate M L Sharma, and some law students have also approached the apex court challenging the Act. Some of the petitions filed later have also sought a stay on the operation of the legislation which came into force on January 10.

President Ram Nath Kovind gave his assent to the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2019 on December 12, turning it into an Act. Since then, there have been severe protests in different parts of the country against the Act.

The newly amended citizenship law seeks to grant citizenship to non-Muslim migrants belonging to Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Christian, Jain and Parsi communities who came to the country from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan on or before December 31, 2014.

The apex court had on January 9 refused to entertain a plea seeking that the CAA be declared constitutional, saying the country is going through difficult times and there is so much violence that endeavour should be for peace. BJP is also reaching out to the people to mobilise support for the newly amended citizenship law and "remove misconceptions created by the opposition".

The Act has been challenged by the Kerala government in the Supreme Court. Kerala, Punjab and West Bengal have also said that they will not implement the amended law.

The Mamata Banerjee government on Tuesday said that it will bring an anti-CAA resolution in the state assembly on January 27. This came after Union Home Minister Amit Shah said that the Centre won't take back the citizenship law however hard the opposition might protest.

Addressing a pro-CAA rally at Lucknow, the Home Minister challenged Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, SP chief Akhilesh Yadav and others to hold an open debate with him on the new legislation.

However, senior Congress leaders Kapil Sibal and Salman Khurshid have said that state governments cannot legally refuse to implement the law.

The CAA grants citizenship to Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Parsis, Buddhists and Christians fleeing religious persecution from Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh and who came to India on or before December 31, 2014.