The Supreme Court on December 18 refused to stay the implementation of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) of 2019, which fast tracks citizenship-by-naturalisation process for “illegal migrants” from six religious communities, other than Muslims. Chief Justice of India Sharad A. Bobde instead orally asked the government to publicise the actual intent of the Act so that there was no confusion among the public about its objectives.
The Supreme Court issued a formal notice admitting 59 petitions filed by people from all walks of life and faiths to parliamentarians to retired High Commissioners and service officers to lawyers, students, activists, professional associations to Opposition political parties cutting across regions and ideology and NGOs. The court said it would hear the petitions on January 22.
The petitions have argued that the law welcomes “illegal migrants” into India selectively on the basis of their religion and pointedly exclude Muslims. It has an “unholy nexus” with the National Register of Citizens (NRC) exercise and is against principles of secularism, right to equality and dignity of life enshrined in the Basic Structure of the Constitution.