The Supreme Court of India on Thursday announced that it will commence the final hearing on over 200 petitions challenging the constitutional validity of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 (CAA) from May 5.
The CAA provides Indian citizenship to migrants from Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan belonging to Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Christian, Jain, and Parsi communities who arrived in India on or before December 31, 2014.
A bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices Joymalaya Bagchi and Vipul M Pancholi issued procedural directions for the final hearings. The court will hear petitioners, including the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) leader, for one-and-a-half days, while the Centre will be granted a day to present its arguments. The bench said it aims to conclude hearings by May 12.
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Parties have been asked to file additional documents and submissions within four weeks. The bench stated that it will first address petitions challenging the pan-India application of the CAA and then take up petitions specific to Assam and Tripura. In Assam, the citizenship cut-off date was earlier March 24, 1971, which the CAA extended to December 31, 2014.
The matter was last listed on March 19, 2024, when the apex court refused to stay the operation of the Citizenship (Amendment) Rules, 2024, which give effect to the Act. The Centre had notified the rules on March 11, 2024, enabling the implementation of the CAA four years after it was passed. The Act received presidential assent on December 12, 2019.
Prominent petitioners include IUML, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh, RJD leader Manoj Jha, Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra, and AIMIM leader Asaduddin Owaisi. The apex court’s scheduled hearings are expected to address questions of constitutional validity, pan-India applicability, and region-specific concerns in the Northeast.
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