The Supreme Court agreed on Tuesday to consider on April 9 the pleas challenging the implementation of the Citizenship Amendment Act.
Appearing for the petitioners, senior advocate Kapil Sibal said that if any process of granting citizenship starts in the meantime, then it would be impossible to reverse it.
Senior advocate Indira Jaising echoed Sibal's observation, saying that until the court hears the matter finally, no citizenship should be granted. "We need a court order for this," Jaising said.
A bench of Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud and Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra refused to grant an interim stay, which means that it will remain in effect even as the matter is pending.
As a closing remark, Sibal said that if any citizenship is granted in the meantime, "we must have the liberty to move the court," which was agreed to by the court.
The case deals with the implementation of the controversial Citizenship Amendment Act, which was cleared by Parliament in 2019. In 2020, the top court refused to stay its implementation because the rules had not been notified.
However, the rules have now been notified, prompting a batch of over 200 petitioners to move the top court to seek a stay on its implementation.
As per these rules, Christians, Parsis, Buddhists, Jains, Sikhs and Hindus who entered India from Pakistan. Bangladesh or Afghanistan on or before Dec. 31, 2014, are eligible to seek citizenship under CAA. However, the legislation explicitly excludes the Muslim community from its provisions for a grant of citizenship.
The lead petitioner in the case, the Indian Union Muslim League, has alleged that the Act is manifestly arbitrary as it is exclusionary to one group and grants religion-based citizenship.
The plea states that the recently notified rules violate fundamental rights under Articles 14 and 21 of the Constitution and go against India's obligations under international human rights law.
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