Assam: Supreme Court takes fresh batch of petitions challenging Citizenship Act

The Supreme Court on May 20, 2020, issued a notice on a batch of petitions challenging the constitutional validity of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 (CAA).

While issuing the notice, a bench comprising Chief Justice SA Bobde and Justices AS Bopanna and Hrishikesh Roy, tagged the batch of petitions along with the other 160 petitions pending considering before the top court, reported Livelaw.in.

Also read: Anti-CAA Body Demands Akhil Gogoi's Release, Seeks Supreme Court's Intervention

However, the advocate appearing for All Assam Law Student's Union & Muslim Student's Federation prayed for an interim order so as to counteract the conflict between provisions of the CAA and the Assam Accord. But, the bench refused to grant interim protection and instead issued notice.

This is the first time CAA petitions challenging aspects of the Act's constitutionality have been listed, since the imposition of the Coronavirus-induced lockdown.

On December 18 last, the Supreme Court had issued notice to center on 60 petitions. Since the Act was yet to be notified then, the petitioners had not pressed for stay.

Also read: Supreme Court Issues Notice on Petition Seeking Release of Detainees

On March 17 last, the Central government filed a counter-affidavit stating that the classification under CAA was reasonable and constitutional.

It may be mentioned that the passage of the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill by the parliament on December 11 last year triggered massive protests across Assam and other parts of the country leading to the imposition of curfew and suspension of internet services for 10 days.

Most of the political parties, ethnic organizations, student bodies and civilians vehemently opposed the act and demanded scrapping of it for the greater interest of the indigenous people of the state.

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