Indian govt urges SC to dismiss pleas challenging the validity of CAA

The Indian government has urged the Supreme Court to dismiss pleas challenging the validity of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA), saying it is a "focused law" which grants citizenship only to members of six specified communities who came to India on or before December 31, 2014.

A bench, comprising Chief Justice Uday Umesh Lalit and justices S Ravindra Bhat and Bela M Trivedi, is scheduled to hear 232 petitions, mostly PILs, tomorrow (on October 31) on the issue of CAA, reports our New Delhi correspondent.

In a detailed 150-page affidavit, the Indian Home Ministry said "parliament is competent to make laws for the whole or any part of the territory of India as provided in Article 245 (1) of The Constitution of India."

Seeking dismissal of the pleas, the affidavit, filed by Sumant Singh, a joint secretary in the Home Ministry, said the CAA, 2019 "facilitates the grant of citizenship to migrants belonging to Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi and Christian communities from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan who entered in India on or before December 31, 2014."

It said the law applied to those who have been exempted by the central government under the provisions of the Passport (Entry into India) Act, 1920 and other relevant provisions and the rules made under the Foreigners Act, 1946.

The government affidavit said "it is further submitted that this is a focused law that has a specific cut-off date of December 31, 2014. Therefore, only such migrants belonging to the six specified communities from the three countries who had entered into India on or before December 31, 2014 will be covered by the provisions of this Amendment Act," it said.

The affidavit also said these migrants are already living in India and the amended law does not have any provision which provides for the grant of citizenship to such migrants who would have come after the specified date or on any future date.

"It is respectfully submitted that the CAA does not in any way encourage illegal migration into Assam and therefore the view that it has the potential to encourage illegal migration into Assam is unfounded," the Home Ministry said.

It said the petitions against the CAA are liable to be dismissed and said the Ministry reserved its right to file a more detailed affidavit at a later stage. End