New Delhi: The Supreme Court is set to hear the pleas challenging the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) of 2019 on Monday, September 12. A bench headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) UU Lalit will hear over 200 pleas in the matter. Justice S Ravindra Bhat will be part of the bench.
Notably, the citizenship amendment bill, which seeks to provide fastrack citizenship to migrants from Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi or Christian communities from Afghanistan, Bangladesh or Pakistan, who had come to India by December 31, 2014, came into force in January 2020. The bill stoked massive protests countrywide.
The CAA was passed by Parliament on December 11, 2019, and the Act was notified on December 12. However, its implementation has not materialised so far as the rules have not been framed yet. Earlier this year in May, while addressing a rally in Bengal, Union Home Minister Amit Shah had said that the law would be implemented once the Covid pandemic ends.
Last month, West Bengal BJP chief Sukanta Majumdar said that the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) is a core issue for the party. “CAA is our commitment, we will do it. CAA is a core issue for Bengal BJP the way Ram Mandir was an issue for All India BJP. We will give citizenship to refugees from Bangladesh,” Majumdar said while talking to reporters.
“People are forced to come because of atrocities committed on Hindus,” added the BJP leader.
“It is our promise that we will implement the CAA. I have complete faith that CAA will be implemented before the 2024 Lok Sabha elections,” the West Bengal BJP leader said earlier.
On the other hand, West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee had said she would never allow the CAA in Bengal. “If they (Centre) want to implement CAA, they will have to do it over my dead body,” she had said.
