[ By Bobby Anthony ]The Supreme Court has refused to pass any order to restrain the operation of Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) or the National Population Register (NPR).The Supreme Court also gave four weeks’ time to the central government to file a counter affidavit.A Supreme Court bench headed by Chief Justice of India S A Bobde, comprising Justice S Abdul Nazeer and Justice Sanjiv...
The Supreme Court has refused to pass any order to restrain the operation of Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) or the National Population Register (NPR).
The Supreme Court also gave four weeks’ time to the central government to file a counter affidavit.
A Supreme Court bench headed by Chief Justice of India S A Bobde, comprising Justice S Abdul Nazeer and Justice Sanjiv Khanna passed the order while hearing more than 140 petitions challenging or supporting the newly amended citizenship law.
It also indicated the probability of constituting a Constitution Bench to take up the matter during the next date of hearing.
Senior advocate Kapil Sibal who appeared for the Indian Union Muslim League challenging the new law, urged the Supreme Court to postpone the process for a few months.
However, Attorney General K K Venugopal opposed it saying that it was equivalent to a stay.
In response, Chief Justice of India Bobde stated, “We aren't going to pass any such order today”.
The Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) essentially fast-tracks the process of granting citizenship to Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians who fled religious persecution in Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan and took refuge in India on or before December 31, 2014.
During the course of hearing, Chief Justice Bobde said, "We may ask the government to issue some temporary permits for the time being."
Senior advocate Vikas Singh, appearing for the Assam Advocates’ Association, sought an ex-parte order from the Supreme Court with respect to the implementation of the Act in Assam. He told the court, “The situation in Assam is different, 40,000 people have already entered Assam since the last hearing”.
Incidentally, several petitions were filed in the top court and high courts across the country for and against the CAA. There have been protests in different parts of the country against the Act. It has also been challenged by the Kerala government in the Supreme Court.
Kerala and West Bengal have also said that they will not implement the amended law. However, Congress leaders Kapil Sibal and Salman Khurshid have said that state governments cannot legally refuse to implement a law passed by the parliament.