Supreme Court to Hear 75 Petitions Challenging 'CAA' Tomorrow

New Delhi, January 21, 2020:

The Supreme Court on Wednesday has listed as many as 75 pleas challenging the amendment of the the Citizenship Act tomorrow amid ongoing protests across the country.

Meanwhile, two judges in the Supreme Court bench have been replaced with new faces -- Justices Abdul Nazir and Sanjeev Khanna will replace Justices BR Gavai and Surya Kant. The bench is headed by Chief Justice SA Bobde.

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The bench had initially fixed 59 petitions including the ones filed by regional organizations like the AASU and AJYCP. Several Congress leaders, including MP Jairam Ramesh have also filed petitions against the contentious legislation.

The apex Court has also agreed to the submission of lawyer Ashwini Upadhyay that common people should be made aware about the aim, objectives, and contents of the CAA.

"Tomorrow many petitions have been submitted. A hearing is fixed only when the pleadings are complete. Tomorrow is the first day after issuance of notice (December 16). Final hearing in the matter is unlikely tomorrow... only the Court fixes the hearings. It is unlikely that the hearings will happen tomorrow. However, we are hopeful that the Court will fix a hearing date...that is the goal as of now", Upamanyu Hazarika, a senior advocate who himself has filed a petition, told Inside Northeast.

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Meanwhile, Tripura royal scion Pradyot Manikya, recently hailed as a savior of the Bru people for his role in helping the refugees find permanent settlement in Tripura, is prepping for the fight against the CAA tomorrow. Taking to Twitter, the former Tripura Congress President wrote: "As promised that I will continue to fight for our rights I am glad to say that my matter has been been listed for hearing tomorrow at the Supreme Court - we will continue our fight against Citizenship Amendment Act."

The CAA has been designed to fast-track the process of granting citizenship to six non-Muslim communities — Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi and Christian — who allegedly fled religious persecution in Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan till December 31, 2014, and took refuge in India.

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