Supreme Court refuses to stay Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA)
pleas concerning Assam-Tripura may be heard separately
New Delhi
The Supreme Court on Wednesday made it clear that it will not grant any stay on the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) without hearing the Centre and said it may refer pleas challenging the validity of the Act to a larger Constitution bench.
SC will consider hearing pleas related to Assam and Tripura separately, after Centre files its reply after the given window of two weeks. The Centre will have to file replies on all other CAA-related pleas (except those about Assam and Tripura) within four weeks.
UPDATE
11:30 am- Before concluding today’s hearing on the new citizenship law, the Supreme Court also restrains all other high courts from passing any order on CAA.
11:25 am- The Attorney General asks for six weeks to file affidavits in all CAA matters. However, senior advocate Kapil Sibal and others oppose the suggestion. The CJI then refuses to pass any order of restraint against operation of CAA or NPR, and further gives the central government 4 weeks to file reply in CAA matters.
11:20 am – Petitions on Assam Might Have to be Heard Seaparately: CJI | A plea is made, during the SC hearing on CAA, to hear Assam-related matters separately because “it has an Accord and is placed differently from others.” To this, the CJI remarks, “Assam looks differently placed and hence fit might have to be heard separately.” The court then gives the Centre given 2 weeks to file reply in Assam-related cases.
11:15 am- As the Attorney General insists there is no need for an interim order on the matter, senior advocate Vikas Singh takes objection and says that it is a must because “demography of Assam could be changed because of the law.” “Half the immigrants in Assam are Bengali Hindus,” Singh explains. However, the three-judge bench of the apex court then clarifies it won’t pass an ex-parte order on CAA.
11:00 am – As the Supreme Court begins hearing over 140 petitions on the contentious citizenship act, the overcrowded state of the court room irks CJI, as he asks security to control the crowd of lawyers, litigants.
