Supreme Court seeks Centre’s response for segregating anti-CAA pleas

The Supreme Court on Monday sought a response from the Union government over a suggestion to segregate over 200 petitions filed to challenge the validity of the Citizenship Amendment Act, 2019.

The 2019 Act made only Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians, except Muslims, from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan eligible for Indian citizenship as naturalisation, for their religious persecution and had fixed December 31, 2014 as the cut-off date for the purpose.

The statute, which triggered protests across the country, was challenged before the top court by several sections of society.

On Monday, a bench of Chief Justice U U Lalit and S Ravindra Bhat asked Solicitor General Tushar Mehta to file the reply within four weeks on compartmentalisation, following a suggestion made by counsel from different parties.

The court gave two weeks to complete the exercise for compartmentalisation.

It also indicated that the matter could be referred to a three-judge bench.

The court fixed the matter for hearing on October 31, 2022.

The President on December 12, 2019, granted assent to the law following its passage from both the Houses of Parliament.

On December 18, 2019, the top court decided to examine the validity of the Citizenship Amendment Act 2019, but refused to grant any stay on the statute.

The Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), one of the first petitioners against the Act, contended it violated the fundamental right to equality as it intended to grant citizenship to a section of illegal immigrants by making an exclusion based on religion.

The plea, filed by Congress leader Jairam Ramesh, claimed the Act was a “brazen attack” on core fundamental rights envisaged under the Constitution.

The Kerala government, ruled by CPM, also filed a separate plea, seeking a declaration that the Citizenship Amendment Act 2019 was violative of the fundamental rights and basic principle of secularism enshrined in the Constitution.

The state government had also filed an original suit under Article 131—which is invoked when there is a dispute among states and between a state and the Union of India—of the Constitution.