Supreme Court To Review 230 Pleas Seeking Stay on Citizenship (Amendment) Act Rules Today

On Tuesday, March 19, the Supreme Court is set to consider a series of petitions requesting the Center to suspend the enforcement of the Citizenship Amendment Rules, 2024 until the apex court has adjudicated on the petitions contesting the constitutional legitimacy of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019.

A bench consisting of Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud and justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra acknowledged the arguments presented by senior advocate Kapil Sibal, representing the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML). Sibal contended that once Indian citizenship has been conferred upon migrant Hindus, it cannot be revoked, thus emphasizing the need for an expedited hearing.

The Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) rules, put forth by the Centre and ratified by the Parliament in 2019, are designed to grant Indian citizenship to persecuted migrants from non-Muslim communities, such as Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists, Parsis, and Christians. These migrants originated from Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Afghanistan and entered India prior to December 31, 2014.

A day after the Centre issued the rules under the CAA, the Kerala-based political party Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) moved the Supreme Court seeking a stay on the implementation of the rules, HT reported.