Five-judge bench to decide validity of Act

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Wednesday said that it would not stay the operation of Citizenship (Amendment) Act without hearing the Centre and said that a five-judge Constitution bench would decide its validity.
Seeking response of the central government in four weeks on a batch of pleas challenging the CAA, the top court also restrained high courts in the country from proceedings with pending petitions on the issue.
“We are not going to pass any ex-parte order without hearing Centre on the aspects of interim relief,” a bench headed by Chief Justice SA Bobde said.
The observation assumes significance as a battery of senior lawyers led by Kapil Sibal and AM Singhvi vehemently sought judicial intervention and demanded that the operation of the CAA and National Population Register (NPR) processes be stopped for a couple of months till apex court decides the petitions.
Taking note of vehement opposition of the Centre, represented by Attorney General KK Venugopal and Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, the bench observed “according to the government this relief is akin to granting stay on the Act”.
The bench, also comprising Justices S Abdul Nazeer and Sanjiv Khanna, said: “The matter is uppermost in everybody’s mind. We will form a five-judge bench and then list the case. Issue notice on all such petitions in which notices were not issued. Attorney General KK Venugopal seeks time to file reply in four weeks.”
It said the court would hear some of the petitions in-chambers for deciding the modalities and thereafter a five-judge bench would be constituted after four weeks for day-to-day hearing on a batch of 143 petitions.
Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for some petitioners challenging the validity of CAA, said the issue be referred to a Constitution bench and the NPR exercise be postponed by a couple of months. He also urged the bench to put on hold the operation of the CAA.
The bench said, “Even we think that the matter should be heard by a Constitution bench.”
Senior advocate KV Vishwanathan, appearing for some anti-CAA petitioners said, “The operation of the Act should be postponed as there is apprehension among the minority but there is also anguish among the majority class of the country.”
Singhvi said that recently 40,000 people have been recommended by the Uttar Pradesh government to the Centre for grant of citizenship. “People are being marked as ‘doubtful citizen’ in 19 districts of Uttar Pradesh, which is creating panic among the masses that they will be disenfranchised and taken out of the electoral rolls”, he said.
Singhvi said, “They (UP government) are proceeding ahead even when the rules and regulations under the Act have not been notified. The process needs to be postponed by couple of months and it would not make any difference. Things which have not happened for 70 years cannot be allowed to start in 20 months”.
The CAA seeks to grant citizenship to migrants belonging to the Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Christian, Jain and Parsi communities who came to the country from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan on or before December 31, 2014.
Disappointing, says Jamiat
Prominent Muslim body Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind said the Supreme Court not staying CAA was “disappointing” and asserted that the law is against Constitutional principles.
Reacting to the development, Jamiat chief Maulana Arshad Madani said that the court not staying the CAA is “disappointing”. Some people are trying to give this issue of the “unconstitutional citizenship law” a Hindu-Muslim colour when the law is contrary to the country’s constitutional system. (PTI)