SC Refuses To Defer CAA Implementation, Centre Gets 4 Weeks To reply

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday refused to stay implementation of Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA), which came into force on January 10.

A bench headed by Chief Justice S A Bobde granted four weeks time to the Centre to file counter affidavit. The SC ruled that no high court would hear pleas on the CAA.

The Chief Justice also indicated the probability of constituting a Constitution Bench to take up the matter after four weeks.

Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for Indian Union Muslim League, urged the court to postpone the process for a few months. Attorney General K K Venugopal opposed it saying it was equivalent to a stay.

Then the Chief Justice said: “We aren’t going to pass any such order today.”

As many as 143 petitions have been filed challenging the constitutional validity of the Act with some seeking a stay on the implementation of the legislation.

In his plea, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh called CAA a “brazen attack” on core fundamental rights as it sought to grant citizenship to non-Muslim migrants who came to India from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan on or before December 31, 2014.

On January 9, the SC had dismissed a plea to declare CAA as constitutional.