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SC Hearing on CAA Latest Updates: The Supreme Court today made it clear that it will not grant any stay on the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) without hearing the Centre. It has given the Centre four weeks to reply to all the generic petitions regarding CAA, while Assam and Tripura specific matters should be responded to within two weeks. The Supreme Court started hearing around 143 pleas, both for and against CAA in a packed courtroom. With representatives of all 143 petitioners apparently present in the Chief Justice’s court, the room remained packed to the brim. However, this seem to have annoyed CJI SA Bobde, who said that the noise is such that he is unable to hear a thing. Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday asserted that notwithstanding the protest, he is not willing to reconsider the Citizenship Amendment Act or to modify it in an way. This prompted an acerbic tweet from Congress leader Sanjay Jha, who said that ‘arrogance’ always backfires in politics. The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear on Wednesday a batch of pleas seeking to examine the
constitutional validity
of the
Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA)
at 11.30 am, news reports said. A batch of at least 143 petitions is to come up before the apex court as the case list enlists all related petitions at number four. A bench, comprising Chief Justice SA Bobde and Justices S Abdul Nazeer and Sanjiv Khanna, which had issued notice to the Centre on various pleas is likely to hear 132 petitions, including those filed by the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) and
Congress
leader Jairam Ramesh. CAA seeks to grant citizenship to non-Muslim migrants belonging to Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Christian, Jain and Parsi communities who came to the country from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan on or before 31 December, 2014. [caption id=“attachment_7201881” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]
Representational image. Reuters[/caption] Some of the petitions filed later have also sought a stay on the operation of the legislation which came into force on 10 January. The apex court had on 9 January refused to entertain a plea seeking that the CAA be declared constitutional, saying the country is going through difficult times and there is so much violence that endeavour should be for peace. IUML said in its plea that CAA violates the fundamental Right to Equality and intends to grant citizenship to a section of illegal immigrants by making an exclusion on the basis of religion. President Ram Nath Kovind gave assent to the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2019 on 12 December, turning it into an Act. IUML seeks an interim stay on the operation of CAA and the Foreigner Amendment (Order), 2015 and Passport (Entry Into Rules), Amendment Rules, 2015. The petition had alleged that the government’s CAA was against the basic structure of the Constitution and intended to explicitly discriminate against Muslims as the Act extended benefits only to Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians. The plea filed by Ramesh, said the Act is a “brazen attack” on core fundamental rights envisaged under the Constitution and treats “equals as unequal”. Ramesh said the substantial questions of law, including whether religion can be a factor to either acquire or deny citizenship in India, arises for consideration of the court as it is a “patently unconstitutional” amendment to the Citizenship Act, 1955. “The impugned Act creates two classifications, viz, classification on basis of religion and the classification on the basis of geography and both the classifications are completely unreasonable and share no rational nexus to the object of the impugned Act i.e., to provide shelter, safety and citizenship to communities who in their native country are facing persecution on grounds of religion,” the plea said. Several petitions have been filed challenging the constitutional validity of the CAA, including by RJD leader Manoj Jha, Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra, AIMIM leader Asaduddin Owaisi. Several other petitioners include Muslim body Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind, All Assam Students Union (AASU), Peace Party, CPI, NGOs ‘Rihai Manch’ and Citizens Against Hate, advocate ML Sharma, and law students have also approached the apex court challenging the Act.
SC Hearing on CAA Highlights: No stay on CAA-NPR, Assam-Tripura matters segregated; top court bars HCs from hearing pleas on law
SC Hearing on CAA Live Updates: The Supreme Court today made it clear that it will not grant any stay on the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) without hearing the Centre. It has given the Centre four weeks to reply to all the generic petitions regarding CAA, while Assam and Tripura specific matters should be responded to within two weeks.
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Shaheen Bagh protesters say resistance will go on
Nothing wrong with SC order, but top court at best a reluctant warrior, says Yogendra Yadav
Swaraj India leader Yogendra Yadav, expressed his disappointment with the Supreme Court order on the contentious Citizenship Amendment Act today. Calling the Supreme Court a reluctant warrior in battle to defend Constitution, he urged the citizens to continue their movement against the law.
“Routine hearing, another 4 weeks. No stay or even postponement of CAA. This SC is at best a reluctant warrior in the battle to defend letter, spirit & soul of the constitution. We the People of India must continue the movement to save the Constitution that we gave to ourselves.”
“Nothing wrong with the order. Nothing wrong in giving time to file reply. Nothing wrong in forming a constitutional bench or taking up interim relief after 4 weeks. But is this what you expect of a court tasked with defending the constitution in the face of this onslaught?” he tweeted.
Have another month to carry on protests: Shaheen Bagh protesters react to SC giving Centre more time to respond on CAA pleas
Reacting to the Supreme Court hearing on CAA, the women protestors at Shaheen Bagh in New Delhi told News18, " Next SC hearing is 4 weeks later. We have at least another month of protests ahead of us. One month, one year… protests will continue. We have faith in judiciary."
SC hearing on CAA Latest News Update
SC segregates Assam, Tripura matters but all pleas to be heard together, says Bar and Bench
The Supreme Court clubbed together all pleas concerning the states of Assam and Tripura together as both these states have separate agreements with the Centre regarding the preservation of native people. Senior advocate Kapil Sibal has been asked by the court to assist in segragating these please.
However, there seems to be some confusion over whether or not these pleas will be heard separately from the rest of the petitions. According to Bar and Bench , the Supreme Court has segregated these pleas for its own benefit and all the matters will be heard together.
However, journalist Muralikrishnan and Press Trust of India reported that the court might hear these peitions separately.
SC hearing on CAA Latest News Update
Hearing concludes; no stay on CAA, NRC, govt gets 4 weeks to file reply
The Supreme Court has reportedly wrapped up the hearing on the case for now. The key takeaways were:
- The Supreme Court has refused to grant an interim stay on CAA or NRC or NPR and the government is free to implement those laws
- SC will consider hearing pleas related to Assam and Tripura separately, after Centre files its reply after the given window of two weeks
- The Centre will have to file replies on all other CAA-related pleas (except those about Assam and Tripura) within four weeks
- The SC has not referred the matter to a Constitution Bench as of now. However, it showed strong inclination to do that. It said a five-judge Constitution Bench will be set up to hear the matter.
- The Supreme Court has also asked the High Courts not to entertain any pleas on CAA until the apex court finish deciding this matter.
SC hearing on CAA Latest News Update
CJI agrees to consider suggestion of treating Assam-related pleas differently, grants Centre 2 weeks to reply
CJI SA Bobde agreed that the challenge to Citizenship Assam Act will have to be bifurcated in two sections – one concerning Tripura and Assam and another one concerning CAA generally. He granted the government two weeks to respond in the Assam-related matters and four weeks to answer the other matters related to CAA.
SC hearing on CAA Latest News Update
CJI agrees to consider suggestion of treating Assam-related pleas differently, grants Centre 2 weeks to reply
CJI SA Bobde agreed that the challenge to Citizenship Assam Act will have to be bifurcated in two sections – one concerning Tripura and Assam and another one concerning CAA generally. He granted the government two weeks to respond in the Assam-related matters and four weeks to answer the other matters related to CAA.
SC hearing on CAA Latest News Update
AASU says Assam’s situation on CAA unique, says matter should be treated differently
The Supreme Court is currently hearing 143 petitions concerning the Citizenship Amendment Act. However, a batch of petitioners raising the Assam issue sought to be heard separately. They proposed that the general matter of the CAA and the matter concerning CAA in Assam should be treated differently for the purpose of interim orders as the law presents a unique situation in Assam.
SC hearing on CAA Latest News Update
CAA violates Assam Accord: Petitioner in Supreme Court
Senior Advocate AM Singhvi mentions that many states have started the NPR process. Senior Advocate Vikas Singh presses for an interim order, saying that the law violates Assam Accord. Singh pointed out that people from Bangladesh were allowed to come in till 1971 because they faced persecution, but when the cut off date was revised, it violated the Assam Accord.
SC hearing on CAA Latest News Update
Centre opposes plea for interim order against CAA
Senior lawyer and Congress leader Kapil Sibal said that the process of NPR is scheduled to start in April, adding that this process should be rescheduled for later. Meanwhile, senior counsel Vikas Singh urges for interim order today itself and raises the issue of the situation in Assam.
Centre opposed passing of any interim order. The Supreme Court clarifies it will not issue an ex-parte order unless a copy of the petition is served to the Centre.
SC hearing on CAA Latest News Update
‘Can’t hear a thing’: CJI annoyed at overcrowding of court
The Supreme Court started hearing around 143 pleas, both for and against CAA in a packed courtroom. With representatives of all 143 petitioners apparently present in the Chief Justice’s court, the room remained packed to the brim. However, this seem to have annoyed CJI SA Bobde, who said that the noise is such that he is unable to hear a thing.
Amit Shah says protest all you can but won’t roll back law; Congress wishes him luck, says arrogance always backfires
Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday asserted that notwithstanding the protest, he is not willing to reconsider the Citizenship Amendment Act or to modify it in an way. This prompted an acerbic tweet from Congress leader Sanjay Jha.
Who are the judges that will hear the pleas against CAA in Supreme Court?
A three-judge bench of Chief Justice of India SA Bobde, Justice S Abdul Nazeer and Justice Sanjiv Khanna will hear the pleas.
SA Bobde was appointed as the 47th Chief Justice of India on 18 November, 2019 and his tenure will end on 23 April, 2021. He has been a part of Benches that delivered the Ayodhya verdict, the Aadhaar judgement and the case in which it was declared that right to privacy as a fundamental right of an individual. He was also a part of a three-member in-house committee, which gave a clean chit to former CJI Ranjan Gogoi in a sexual harassment complaint against him.
Justice Nazeer, 61, first enrolled as an advocate in 1983 in the Karnataka High Court. He was later appointed an additional judge in the High Court in 2003. Justice Nazeer was elevated as a judge of the Supreme Court on 17 February, 2017. Justice Nazeer was also a part of the bench that decided to criminalise Triple Talaq other than Ayodhya verdict. He was recently given Z Plus security after reports that he and his family are under threat from Popular Front of India (PFI).
Justice Sanjiv Khanna’s elevation from the Delhi High Court to the Supreme Court was decided on 16 January last year. Khanna was 33rd in the combined seniority of high court judges on an all-India basis and his elevation sparked protests and criticism within the legal community. He is in line to become the CJI in November 2024 for a term of seven months. During his tenure at the Delhi High Court, Justice Khanna authored or co-authored over 3,100 verdicts.
After Kerala and Punjab, West Bengal to move resolution against CAA in state Assembly
Trinamool Congress announced on Tuesday that it will bring a resolution against the Citizenship Amendment Act in the West Bengal Legislative Assembly on 27 January, becoming the third state after the Kerala and Punjab to oppose the contentious law.
State parliamentary affairs minister Partha Chatterjee said the TMC had submitted a resolution under rule 169 to the Assembly Speaker on 20 January, which will come up in the House on 27 January. Adoption of the resolution in the house would not be a difficult task considering the fact that Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s party on its own enjoys an overwhelming majority in the 295-member Bengal Assembly.
Kerala, Punjab and West Bengal have also said that they will not implement the amended law.
Why PM Modi not accepting suggestion of debating CAA with 5 critics, asks Chidambaram
Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram on Tuesday asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi as to why he or his government did not accept his suggestion of the prime minister holding an open debate with five critics of the amended Citizenship Act (CAA) and let people draw their own conclusion.
“I had suggested that the PM should select five of the most articulate critics and hold a Q&A session with them. Why doesn’t the PM/Government accept the suggestion?” Chidambaram tweeted.
Meanwhile, BJP’s Chandra Bose wants CAA tweaked, says remove reference to religion, welcome all facing persecution
BJP leader and grand-nephew of Independence movement icon Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose Chandra Bose is one of the few voices within the BJP to have opposed the Citizenship Amendment Act. He said , “I have suggested to my party leadership that with a little modification, the entire opposition campaign will fizzle out. We need to specifically state that it is meant for persecuted minorities, we should not mention any religion. Our approach should be different.”
He also said the government should issue a written clarification on the issue. “An atmosphere of fear is being created on the issue of citizenship. This applies to both the ruling party and the opposition parties. Just because it (the law) has been passed by Parliament, it can’t be used to bulldoze people by ignoring the protests. The same applies to opposition parties which are deliberately misleading the masses,” he told PTI.
Meanwhile, it is unlikely that the government will incorporate Bose’s suggestions as Home Minister Amit Shah only yesterday clarified that he will not change the law under any circumstances.
SC hearing on CAA Latest News Update
Critics of CAA argue law is unconstitutional; on what grounds?
CAA violates right to equality: A key criticism of the Citizenship Amendment Act is that the law defies basic principles of equality and the tenets of secularism and equality enshrined in India’s Constitution. One of the many counts on which the law arguably flouts Constitution is that by introducing a religious facet into the citizenship acquisition process, the CAA violates Article 14 of the Constitution that guarantees equality amongst all the people, irrespective of whether they are citizens or non-citizens.
CAA defies principles of secularism: Critics also argue that it violates principles of secularism as the clear intent of law is to help people of six specific religions acquire citizenship more easily. In fact, India’s demography erases any doubt that the only major community being specifically filtered out are Muslims. This means that bonafide Muslim citizens who do not possess sufficient documents to prove citizenship, as well as Muslim minorities like Ahmadiyas, Rohingyas and Baloch’s fleeing persecution in their countries will have to wait longer for citizenship with due to no other plausible reason, other than the fact that they are Muslims.
Protest all you want, won’t re-write CAA: Amit Shah tells protesters
Even as protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act continues unabated across various parts of the country, Home Minister Amit Shah has squarely told the citizens opposing the law that their agitation will not bear fruits, as he is unwilling to change his mind on the matter,
“Let it be very loud and clear to our opponents that the citizenship law won’t be rolled back at any cost, irrespective of the protests,” Shah said of the amended law which will enable the government to give citizenship to non-Muslims from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan. “I have introduced this bill in the Lok Sabha. I want to tell the opposition that you should discuss this bill publicly. If it can take citizenship of any person, then prove it and show it,” he said.
SC hearing on CAA Latest News Update
Who are the petitioners who filed pleas against CAA?
The petitioners who have combinedly filed over 140 pleas in the Supreme Court alone, form a diverse group of individuals, social organisations and political parties. The list of petitioners includes several political parties — the chief of them being the Congress, the DMK, CPI, CPM, Indian Union Muslim League or IUML, Asaduddin Owasi’s All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen and Kamal Hassan’s Makkal Needhi Maiam.
Individual citizens like Tehseen Poonawalla, a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization like United against Hate, student group like AASU are among peitioners in the case.
Daughters of renowned poet Munawwar rana among 160 women booked for protesting against CAA, NRC in UP
Daughters of renowned Urdu poet Munawwar Rana are among the 160 women booked by police for allegedly defying prohibitory orders and taking part in the protests against the CAA and NRC here, officials said on Tuesday. The protests at the historic Clock Tower in the old Lucknow area against Citizenship (Amendment) Act and the National Register of Citizens (NRC) started on Friday and have continued with hundreds of women braving the chill to take part in it.
The district administration has booked 160 women, including two daughters of Rana, for defying the orders on Monday night.
Fauzia and Sumaiya, daughters of Rana, have been named in one of the FIRs, he said.
Meanwhile, Shaheen Bagh protesters refuse to budge despite L-G’s bid to dissolve stand-off; say, will allow school buses, ambulances
Latest news reports from Shaheen Bagh suggest that the protesters, who have been occupying a two-kilometre road stretch since about a month, have refused to budge from their spot amid requests that traffic should be allowed to pass. Delhi L-G Anil Baijal spoke to a delegation of protesters last night and asked them to stop their protests. However, the protesters did say that they will try to ensure that school buses and ambulances are not thwarted because of the protests.
SC hearing on CAA Latest News Update
Police foils bid for overnight sit-in protest near SC ahead of cruicial CAA hearing
Around 20 women along with children gathered outside the Supreme Court on Tuesday night to protest against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act ahead of the hearing on the contentious law in the apex court. The protesters squatted at the front gate of the Supreme Court, following which police dispersed them from the area, a police official said.
Students of universities in North East call for shutdown of educational institutes in view of SC hearing on CAA today
Students unions of nine universities across the North East have called for a “total shutdown” of all varsities and colleges on Wednesday in view of the Supreme Court hearing on the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).
Students of six universities of Assam and one each of Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland have called for the protest. Simultaneously, the Cotton University Students Union has called for a mass protest from 10 am to 5 pm inside the campus and appealed the general public to join them.
SC hearing on CAA Latest News Update
SC to hear 132 pleas challenging constitutionality of CAA today
The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear on Wednesday a batch of pleas seeking to examine the constitutional validity of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).
A bench, comprising Chief Justice SA Bobde and Justices S Abdul Nazeer and Sanjiv Khanna, which had issued notice to the Centre on various pleas is likely to hear 132 petitions, including those filed by the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) and Congress leader Jairam Ramesh.
CAA seeks to grant citizenship to non-Muslim migrants belonging to Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Christian, Jain and Parsi communities who came to the country from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan on or before 31 December, 2014.