Anti-CAA pleas: Supreme Court to start hearing petitions on May 5
The CAA aims to grant citizenship to immigrants belonging to the 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 bench, comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices Joymalaya Bagchi and Vipul M Pancholi, issued procedural directions for the final hearings on petitions pending since 2019-2020.
The bench said it will hear the petitioners, including the Indian Muslim League League (IUML) leader, for one-and-a-half days and the Center will be given a day to advance their arguments.
The CJI said the bench will complete the hearing on the petitions on May 12.
The Board asked the parties to submit additional documents and presentations within four weeks.
The bench said it will first hear objections regarding the CAA application across India and then consider petitions related to Assam and Tripura. The bench said Assam’s problem was different from the rest of the country as the earlier deadline for citizenship, March 24, 1971, was extended to December 31, 2014 under the CAA.
These issues were last listed before a bench on March 19, 2024, when it asked the Center to respond to interim applications on implementation of the Citizenship (Amendment) Rules, 2024, till the apex court disposes of pleas challenging the validity of the law.
However, the top court refused to stay the operation of the Rules to give effect to the CAA, as sought by a group of senior lawyers representing the petitioners.
On March 11, 2024, the Center paved the way for the implementation of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019, by notifying the relevant rules, four years after the controversial law was passed by Parliament to fast-track Indian citizenship for undocumented non-Muslim immigrants from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan who came to India before December 31, 2014.
The President assented to the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2019, turning it into law on December 12 that year.
More than 200 petitions have been filed challenging the constitutional validity of the CAA.
Those defending include IUML, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh, RJD leader Manoj Jha, Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra and AIMIM leader Asaduddin Owaisi.
