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| NRC, CAA, NPR |
Citizenship (Amendment) Act: The court made it clear that it would not put the law on hold without hearing the centre.
Supreme court on caa and nrc, Citizenship (Amendment) Act, The Supreme Court today refused to put on hold the Citizenship (Amendment) Act CAA
New Delhi:
The Supreme Court today refused to put on hold the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA), which is at the core of nationwide protests, and gave the Centre four weeks to respond to petitions on the law, making it clear that it would not grant any stay without hearing the government. The court also said a five-judge constitution bench will give an interim order on some 140 petitions on the law.
The Supreme Court also restrained all High Courts from hearing petitions on the CAA before it decided on those pleas.
Petitions linked to Assam and Tripura will be taken up separately as the problem with CAA in these two states is different from rest of the country, said the three judges.
A bench headed by Chief Justice SA Bobde is hearing 143 petitions, mostly challenging the validity of the CAA.
Attorney General KK Venugopal, appearing for the Centre, told the judges that the government had been given copies of around 60 of those petitions. He requested time to respond to the rest.
Senior lawyer Kapil Sibal urged the court to defer the implementation of National Population Register (NPR) for the time being.
Supreme court on caa and nrc, Citizenship (Amendment) Act, The Supreme Court today refused to put on hold the Citizenship (Amendment) Act CAA
The citizenship law, which makes religion a criterion for Indian citizenship, says that non-Muslim minorities from Muslim-majority countries such as Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan can easily become citizens if they flee religious persecution and enter India before December 31, 2014. Critics believe that CAA, along with the NRC or the list of citizens, will be used to attack Muslims. The NPR, which is considered a precursor to the NRC and asks people to produce birth documents, has been halted in many states. The petitions affirm that the new law is illegal and violates the basic secular structure of the Constitution, since it makes religion the basis of Indian citizenship.
The hearing took place in a courtroom where even lawyers could not enter. "This issue is the most important thing in everyone's mind," said Bobde's Supreme Court president when the Attorney General complained about the chaos and urged the court to do something.
On January 9, the Supreme Court had refused to rule on a statement that the citizenship law be declared "constitutional", saying that the country is "going through difficult times" and that the effort must be for peace.
Supreme court on caa and nrc, Citizenship (Amendment) Act, The Supreme Court today refused to put on hold the Citizenship (Amendment) Act CAA
