GUWAHATI: The Supreme Court of India is set to examine a clutch of over 200 petitions challenging the implementation of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 (CAA), on March 19.
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These petitions seek a halt to the enforcement of the Citizenship Amendment Rules 2024.
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On March 11, the central government put into effect the CAA by notifying its rules, nearly five years after its passage in Parliament in December 2019. The CAA amends the Citizenship Act of 1955. According to this amendment, migrants from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Pakistan belonging to the Hindu, Sikh, Jain, Parsi, Buddhist, or Christian communities, who entered India on or before December 31, 2014, due to religious persecution in their home countries, will have an expedited pathway to Indian citizenship.
A bench led by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, accompanied by Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, will hear the petitions. The petitioners argue that CAA discriminates against the Muslim community, alleging that this religious distinction is unreasonable and violates Article 14's right to equality.
In 2020, Kerala became the first state to challenge the CAA in the Supreme Court, citing violations of the Indian Constitution's equality guarantees. It has also filed a second case challenging the CAA regulations.
Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal recently presented a plea filed by the Kerala-based Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) before the apex court. In the petition, IUML questions the government's decision to implement CAA shortly before the Lok Sabha elections.
Other petitioners include Congress leader Jairam Ramesh, AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi, Assam Congress leader Debabrata Saikia, TMC leader Mahua Moitra, as well as NGOs Rihai Manch and Citizens Against Hate, along with some law students and the Assam Advocates Association.
Owaisi criticised the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) stance on CAA, arguing that enacting a law based on religion is impermissible in the country. He stated that this issue transcends political boundaries and affects the entire nation, asserting that rendering 17 crore Muslims stateless goes against the fundamentals of the Constitution.
