The Supreme Court on Wednesday issued notices in about 60 petitions challenging the validity of the Citizenship Act, but refused to stay the operation of the law until the matter is disposed of.
The matter will be heard on January 22. The bench asked the Centre to file replies by the second week of January.
Several petitions have been filed seeking the top court to declare the Citizenship Amendment Act, 2019 ultra vires for violating the fundamental principles of the constitution. Among those who have filed the petitions are Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra, senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh and Kapil Sibal, All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen chief Asaduddin Owaisi, IUML, All Assam Students Union, veteran actor and politician Kamal Hassan, and Asom Gana Parishad, an ally of the ruling BJP in Assam.
The petitioners have mainly sought a direction from the apex court to declare the newly amended provisions of the Citizenship Act null and void for violating Articles 14, 21 and 25 of the Constitution of India.
A few petitioners have also challenged the Act for violating the solutions and agreement sought by the Assam Accord, which mandates that the citizenship can only be granted to those Bangladeshis who entered India before March 24, 1971.
The first petition was filed by the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) on November 12, even before the contentious bill was signed by the president.
Violent protests erupted throughout the country with the North-East being the worst affected. The contentious Act is receiving serious criticism and opposition from several quarters for being discriminatory.
The controversial Act seeks to give Indian citizenship to Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis, and Christians fleeing persecution in Muslim-majority Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Pakistan.