No immediate pause on CAA, SC gives Centre three weeks to respond on pleas seeking stay

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Tuesday issued notice to the Centre to respond on pleas seeking a stay on the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the Citizenship Amendment Rules 2024. The petitions will be heard again on April 9. There will be no stay on granting citizenship in the meantime.

The Centre argued that no one's citizenship is being revoked and the petitions against the previous judgment are before the court. Kapil Sibal, appearing for the Muslim League, argued that rule was notified after four years of passing the law and claimed that no harm will be caused by pausing implementation and ff someone gets citizenship, petitions will not stand.

But the Centre argued that the process would last for three months and if a stay was granted, the rights of the refugees would be violated. Following this, the Supreme Court stated that the hearing will be held on April 9 on the applications seeking a stay. The Centre has not assured that citizenship will not be granted until then.

Meanwhile, Kerala had also approached the Supreme Court against the Citizenship Amendment Act. Also, the Assembly had passed a resolution against the amendment. The suit petition was filed under Article 131 of the Constitution. The petition pointed out that the amendment is a violation of equality under Article 14 of the Constitution and that there will be discrimination against Muslims through law.