New Delhi: The Supreme Court is all set to hear over 140 petitions against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019, including those filed by Congress MP Jairam Ramesh, AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi, TMC MP Mahua Moitra etc.
A bench of Chief Justice of India (CJI) SA Bobde, Justice S Abdul Nazeer and Justice Sanjiv Khanna will hear the pleas. Among the petitions, there is one filed by the Central government in support of the CAA, seeking the transfer of such petitions pending before several high courts to the Apex Court.
The anti-CAA petitions were filed on December 13, soon after the Bill, granting citizenship to non-Muslim migrants belonging to Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Christian, Jain and Parsi communities, was passed in both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha. In its first hearing, the Supreme Court refused to order a stay on the Act and issued a notice to the Centre. Centre, meanwhile, notified January 10 as the official day of the implementation of the Act.
Early this month, CJI Bobde observed that the country was going through troubled times and the petitions should not worsen the situation.
“There is so much of violence going on. The country is going through difficult times and the endeavour should be for peace… This court’s job is to determine validity of a law and not declare it as constitutional,” the CJI had said.