The Supreme Court
on Friday agreed to hear pleas seeking a direction to the Centre to stay the
implementation of the Citizenship Amendment Rules, 2024 till the pendency of
petitions challenging the constitutional validity of the Citizenship
(Amendment) Act, 2019 before the apex court.
A bench
comprising Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj
Misra took note of the submissions of senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing
for the Indian Union Muslim League, that once the citizenship is granted to
migrant Hindus, it cannot be taken back and hence the issues needed an early
hearing.
We will hear this
on Tuesday. There are 190 plus cases. All of them will be heard. We will place
a full batch with the IAs (Interim applications), the CJI said.
Solicitor General
Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Centre, said there were 237 petitions and in
those pending ones, four interim applications have been filed against the
implementation of the rules.
The applications
were filed after the Centre implemented the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019,
by notifying the rules four years after the contentious law was passed by
Parliament to fast-track citizenship for undocumented non-Muslim migrants from
Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan who came to India before December 31,
2014.
The application,
filed by the IUML, which is one of the petitioners who have challenged the
citizenship law, has sought the court's direction to ensure no coercive action
is taken against people belonging to the Muslim community pending adjudication
of the writ petitions.
Muslims cannot
apply for Indian citizenship under the CAA.