The Supreme Court is all set to hear a batch of over two hundred petitions filed challenging the implementation of the contentious Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 (CAA) by the Centre and seeking a stay on the implementation of the act.
As per media reports, the petitions will be heard by a bench led by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud and comprising Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra.
Petition filed by Kerala-based IUML
Being the first state to oppose the implementation of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), Kerala moved the Supreme Court against the CAA in 2020. The state in its petition mentioned that it was against the provisions of the Right to Equality granted by the Indian Constitution. It has also filed another case in the Supreme Court challenging the CAA rules.
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Earlier, Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal mentioned about a plea filed by the Kerala-based Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) before the Supreme Court.
Commenting on their petition against CAA, the Indian Union Muslim League petitioner, P K Kunhalikutty today said, "See, ours is the lead petition in the Supreme Court...Why should the government, days before or hours before the notification, issue such rules...The case is pending in the court but the government is going ahead with the citizenship order. Why should the government do that? We are raising that in the court. We hope that we will get some relief. We are not opposing CAA, citizenship should be given to everybody, not to certain sections only."
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About the other petitions
The names of the other petitioners besides the one filed by IUML include Trinamool Congress leader Mahua Moitra, Congress leader and former Union minister Jairam Ramesh, AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi, Assam Congress leader Debabrata Saikia, NGOs Rihai Manch and Citizens Against Hate, Assam Advocates Association; and some law students.
Furthermore, petitions have also been filed by Debabrata Saikia, Asom Jatiyatabadi Yuba Chatra Parishad (a regional student outfit), Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) and the Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) have also challenged the CAA Rules, 2024 through which the CAA was implemented.
After four years since it was passed in Parliament in December 2019, the Centre on March 11 implemented the CAA. The move triggered massive protests across the country.
