New Delhi: Supreme Court To Hear Over 200 Petitions Against CAA

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court, on Tuesday, will hear a batch of over 200 petitions challenging the constitutional validity of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA), 2019 and the CAA Rules notified on March 12, 2024.

The petitions seek a stay on the implementation of the CAA and the Citizenship Amendment Rules 2024.

A three-judge bench led by Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud, along with Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, will be presiding over 237 petitions, along with the various interlocutory applications.

The Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), filed the lead petition, which categorically stated that the rules notified by the Centre “create a highly truncated and fast-tracked process for grant of citizenship to persons covered under the exemption created by Section 2(1)(b) of the Citizenship Act, 1955…which is manifestly arbitrary and creates an unfair advantage in favour of a class of persons on the ground solely of their religious identity, which is impermissible under Articles 14 and 15”.

Apart from the IUML, Congress leader and former Union minister Jairam Ramesh, Trinamool Congress leader Mahua Moitra, AIMIM supremo Asaduddin Owaisi, Assam Congress leader Debabrata Saikia, NGOs Rihai Manch and Citizens Against Hate, Assam Advocates Association; and some law students have also filed petitions regarding the same.

The petitions come at a time when the differences over the Centre's move to implement the CAA is soaring, particularly as Lok Sabha elections approach. 

Those opposed against the CAA argue that it discriminates against Muslims based on religion and violates the right to equality under Article 14 of the Constitution.

Kerala, which happened to be the first state to oppose the CAA back in 2020, has lodged numerous cases in the apex court, challenging the legitimacy of the CAA by saying that it undermines the Right to Equality enshrined in the Indian Constitution.

On the other hand, the Centre has maintained that the CAA does not infringe upon the legal, democratic, or secular rights of citizens.

Meanwhile, the Union government notified the rules for the implementation of the CAA last week, according to which a Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi or Christian from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan, who entered India before December 31, 2014, can seek Indian citizenship without producing a valid passport of these countries or a valid visa from India.

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