New Delhi: In relation to the CAA, the Supreme Court on Wednesday issued notice to the Centre on five new petitions questioning the existence and validity of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act 2019 (CAA) in the Indian Constitution. This surfaced due to the specific exclusion of Muslims from the Act which was a concern of the violence of the principle of secularism and the right to equality under the Constitution.
The CAA mentions permission and allowance of the Indian citizenship to minority migrants of Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan which includes Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians, except Muslims. This envelops the minorities who have migrated up until December 31, 2014, after they were maltreated in their countries because of their religion.
A bench headed by Chief Justice S.A. Bobde and consisting of Justices A.S. Bopanna and Hrishikesh Roy, took up the matter through video-conferencing, and issued the notice on the appeals filed by All Assam Law Students Union, Tamil Nadu Thoweed Jamath, Shalim, Muslim Students Federation (Assam) and Sachin Yadav. The top court also ordered their tagging with the other PILs filed on the issue.
The Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) is the lead petitioner, and in December last year, the top court had said it will examine the constitutional validity of the CAA, but refused to hold the process of the law. About 160 pleas have been made opposing the Act which excludes Muslim migrants.
According to one of the many requests filed, it said that it was raising vital questions in association with the implementation and planning of the CAA, where for the first time in Indian history, religion has been introduced as a condition for acquiring the Indian citizenship by undocumented migrants from the three neighboring countries.
The petitions debated that the categorization based on the religious identity of an individual is against the fundamental principle of secularism, which is an integral component of the Indian Constitution.
The pleas also mention that the citizenship being extended to a certain class of migrants violates Article 14 which states that “The State shall not deny to any person equality before the law or the equal protection of the laws within the territory of India” and 21—the Right to Life- of the Constitution. The IUML had argued that CAA infringes the fundamental right to equality and plans to award citizenship to a sector of illegal immigrants by making omissions on the foundation of religion.
