Global Watch

PLEAS filed in SC challenging constitutional validity of Citizenship (Amendment) Act

SUPREME Court of India is expected to take up next week commencing on Monday, December 16 a bunch of petitions filed by several organizations and leaders challenging the Citizenship (Amendment) Act saying it is violative of the Constitution enshrining equality to all citizens irrespective of caste, creed and language. Petitioners include  INC  MP Jairam Ramesh, TMC law maker  Mahua Moitra, All Assam Students’ Union (AASU), Peace Party, NGOs ‘Rihai Manch’ and Citizens Against Hate, advocate ML Sharma and some law students . NGOs ‘Rihai Manch’ and Citizens Against Hate  have said that the Act is “discriminatory and manifestly arbitrary” and violates the fundamental rights, including that of equality before law, and basic structure of the Constitution.“The amendment is manifestly arbitrary inasmuch it is capricious, irrational, not transparent, biased with favouritism or nepotism, without adequate determining principle, and contrary to the public interest,” the plea, filed through advocate Fauzia Shakil, said. In his petition, Ramesh has sought a declaration that the Act is “ultra vires” the Assam Accord of 1985, the Constitution and violates the international law and obligation approved and agreed by India under international covenants. The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill approved by the two Houses of Parliament has become a federal law after given nod by President Ramnath Kovind and applicable across the country excluding the Inner Line Permit regime and the areas under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution. Saddened by violent protest against the CAA in West Bengal, Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar, former senior advocate, has reminded the citizens that CAA is a law and hence, everybody must abide by law and the Constitution. In the  plea challenging the 2019 Citizenship (Amendment) Bill filed by Indian Union Muslim League (IUML)  says   it violates fundamental right to equality and intends to grant citizenship to a section of illegal immigrants by making an exclusion on the basis of religion.IUML has said in its plea that the Bill was against the basic structure of Constitution and intended to explicitly discriminate against Muslims as it extends benefits only to Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians. Congress MP Jairam Ramesh and Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra have also challenged the constitutional validity of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act 2019.Under the amended Act , members of Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi and Christian communities who have come from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan till December 31, 2014 and face religious persecution there will not be treated as illegal immigrants but given Indian citizenship. Meanwhile, violent agitations continued in several parts k parts of West Bengal for the second consecutive day on Saturday over protest against the amended Citizenship Act. Several buses and some railway stations were set on fire defying repeated appeals made by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee not to take law in their hands.(image courtesy to ANI)

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