BREAKING: CJI Led Bench To Hear Pleas Challenging Constitutionality Of Citizenship Amendment Act On September 12

The Supreme Court will hear on September 12 a bunch of petitions filed challenging the constitutional validity of the controversial Citizenship Amendment Act 2019.

The Chief Justice Of India UU Lalit led Bench is set to hear the matter after the Supreme Court issued the notice in the matter in December 2019. The CAA came into effect on 10 January 2020. Justice S Ravindra Bhat will also be a part of the bench.

Over 200 petitions are presently pending before the Supreme Court which challenge the 2019 Act.

It may be noted that in December 2019, the Bench comprising CJI Bobde and Justices BR Gavai and Surya Kant had asked the Centre to file a response by the second week of January.

The Petitions contended that the Act, which liberalizes and fast-tracks the grant of citizenship to non-Muslim migrants from Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan, promotes religion-based discrimination.

Thereafter, the Supreme Court in January granted four weeks time to the Central Government to respond to about 140 writ petitions challenging the constitutional validity of the controversial Act.

Further, in March 2020, the Centre submitted before the Supreme Court that the Citizenship Amendment Act 2019 is a "benign piece of legislation" which does not affect the "legal, democratic or secular rights" of any of the Indian Citizens, the Central Government on Tuesday filed a "preliminary counter affidavit" in the Supreme Court in response to the petitions filed challenging the constitutional validity of the Act.

The 130-page affidavit filed in response to the petition filed by Indian Union Muslim League has one-by-one responded to each of the grounds of constitutional violation urged by the petitioners.

At the outset, it stated that the CAA seeks to provide relaxation in the nature of amnesty to specified communities with a clear cut-off date.

"CAA is a specific amendment which seeks to tackle a specific problem prevalent in the specified countries i.e. persecution on the ground of religion in light of the undisputable theocratic constitutional position in the specified countries..:, stated the affidavit.

"The CAA does not impinge upon any existing right that may have existed prior to the enactment of the amendment and further, in no manner whatsoever, seeks to affect the legal, democratic or secular rights of any of the Indian citizens", says the affidavit sworn to by Mr B C Joshi, Director, Ministry of Home Affairs.

CAA Doesn't Affect Indian Citizens; Classification Reasonable & Rational, Centre Tells SC [Read Counter Affidavit]