The Central Government told the Supreme Court that “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”
The Central Government filed a counter affidavit in the Supreme Court in response to the petition filed challenging the constitutionality of the Citizenship Amendment Act. The affidavit filed by the Indian Union Muslim League contains response to all the grounds of violation urged by the petitioners.
The affidavit iterated upon the fact that the law is not about taking away the citizenship but is about giving the people citizenship. Many incidents have been cited in the response to show that minorities in the countries like Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan have been facing maltreatment for a long time. The affidavit stated that, “intelligible differentia in the three countries is in fact, enshrined in their respective Constitutions”
The affidavit responded to the question raised on exclusion of countries and communities stating that it cannot be a matter of judicial review as this comes under the domain of legislative decision making.
The centre also iterated on the fact that it does not affect the secularity enshrined in the Constitution of India and it also does not affects one’s right regarding exercising religion.
The Central Government also clarified that a separate counter affidavit will be filed regarding the petition concerning the North Eastern States.