In a recent Supreme Court hearing on challenges to the Citizenship Amendment Act, 2019 (CAA), Senior Advocate Indira Jaising expressed concerns about granting citizenship to Hindus from Balochistan under the Act and its accompanying Citizenship (Amendment) Rules, 2024. Her main apprehension centered on the implications of citizenship, particularly regarding voting rights.
Senior Advocate Ranjit Kumar, speaking on behalf of the Balochistan Hindu Panchayat, challenged Jaising’s concerns by emphasizing that granting citizenship to persecuted Hindus from Balochistan who arrived in India before December 2014 should not impinge on the rights of others. He queried, “How would it affect anyone else’s rights?”
Bench discusses.
Sr Adv Ranjit Kumar: If citizenship is being granted to me if I am a Hindu from Balochistan, how is that affecting them..
Jaising: Because they will get voting rights..that is how it will affect me..#supremecourt #CAA
— LawBeat (@LawBeatInd) March 19, 2024
Representing a petitioner in the case, Ms Jaising persisted in her argument, stating, “They will get the right to vote. That’s how it affects.”
During the proceedings, Jaising persistently urged the apex court to pause the process of granting citizenship until the final resolution of the case or to mandate that any citizenship awarded would depend on the outcome of the ongoing petitions contesting the CAA and its related regulations. She underscored the substantial consequences of citizenship once conferred, pointing out the lack of provisions for straightforward revocation within the current legal framework.
Nevertheless, despite her pleas and those of others, the court refused to issue any directives in response to the appeals. The Chief Justice of India, while acknowledging the concerns raised regarding the inadequate infrastructure, asserted that this could not be the sole criterion for adjudication in the case.
The Solicitor General, refraining from definitive statements, indicated that there would be no immediate declarations concerning the conferral of citizenship under the newly enacted regulations.
The advancement of the CAA’s implementation progressed significantly with the issuance of pertinent rules on 11 March 2024, streamlining the procedure for granting citizenship to non-Muslim migrants from Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan who entered India before 31 December 2014.
(with inputs from LawBeat)
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