BackOpinion | The SC on India’s biggest dispute
Anti-CAA petitioners sought an interim order to freeze the CAA and postpone data collection for the National Population Register (NPR), but the three-judge bench led by the Chief Justice said that a Constitutional bench would look into the issue
PremiumThe Supreme Court of India on Wednesday refused to stay the implementation of the controversial Citizenship (Amendment) Act, and gave the Centre four weeks to reply to 144-odd petitions, some of which challenge the constitutionality of the law passed last month, while others seek affirmation of the legislation. Anti-CAA petitioners sought an interim order to freeze the CAA and postpone data collection for the National Population Register (NPR), but the three-judge bench led by the Chief Justice said that a Constitutional bench would look into the issue.
The CAA has split opinion bitterly in the country. Many Indians believe that the law amounts to discrimination by religion, since it offers a naturalization pathway to illegal immigrants from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan who entered India before 2015 if they are Hindu, Jain, Sikh, Buddhist, Christian or Zoroastrian, but not Muslim. Since an additional state-run exercise may possibly be afoot—there is little clarity on this—asking residents to prove their citizenship or face harsh consequences, the CAA has stoked anxiety among large numbers who live in India. The apex court has to examine whether the law violates constitutional guarantees of equality and freedom of faith.
The argument made by CAA supporters is that “reasonable" exclusions of specific groups are legally permissible, and that
Muslims in those three Muslim-majority countries need no refuge in India. It’s true that group exceptions do have a precedent, though as a means to take affirmative action in favour of those deemed socially oppressed in India. How this principle would apply exclusively to non-Muslim migrants here is a matter of contention. Also, the rationale behind the exclusion of migrants from Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bhutan and other neighbours remains hazy. The apex court will be watched closely for its ruling on what is turning into Independent India’s biggest dispute.
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