UN Human Rights Chief Files Intervention Application against CAA in Supreme Court, Indian Govt Says "Internal Matter"

New Delhi, March 3, 2020:

Days after she had decried the Citizenship Amendment Act (or CAA) on the United Nations platform, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, has filed an intervention in the Supreme Court on the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and informed India's Permanent Mission in Geneva about it. However, India, its retort, claimed that the Act abides by the Constitution.

Raveesh Kumar, the official spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs, in its rebuttal, said, "the Permanent Mission in Geneva was informed yesterday evening by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights that her Office had filed an Intervention Application in the Supreme Court of India in respect to the 2019 Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA)."

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"The Citizenship Amendment Act is an internal matter of India and concerns the sovereign right of the Indian Parliament to make laws. We strongly believe that no foreign party has any locus standi on issues pertaining to India’s sovereignty", the

The Government's statement are clear that the CAA is constitutionally valid and complies with all requirements of our constitutional values. It is reflective of our long standing national commitment in respect of human rights issues arising from the tragedy of the Partition of India.

India is a democratic country governed by the rule of law. We all have utmost respect for and full trust in our independent judiciary. We are confident that our sound and legally sustainable position would be vindicated by the Hon’ble Supreme Court.

It may be mentioned that the UN's notice was sent on the back of several requests from regional organizations to the international body in regards to the CAA, which is largely being decried as "unconstitutional" and "communal". In Assam, for instance, the Asom Sangrami Mancha, a regional party, had also asked the apex Court to intervene.

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