Indian SC begins hearing over 140 petitions on Citizenship Amendment Act

• The SC said that will not grant any stay on the new citizenship law without hearing the Centre.

The Supreme Court of India began hearing on Wednesday over 140 petitions regarding the controversial Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA).

A bench comprising Chief Justice of India SA Bobde, Justice S Abdul Nazeer and Justice Sanjiv Khanna took up the case proceedings. During the hearing, senior advocate Kapil Sibal urged the SC to put on hold the operation of CAA and postpone exercise of National Population Register for the time being, Indian media reported.

The petitioners who've challenged CAA are Indian Union Muslim League, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh,

RJD leader Manoj Jha, Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra, AIMIM leader Asaduddin Owaisi, Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind, All Assam Students Union (AASU), Peace Party, SFI, & CPI among others https://t.co/s6PFJYanL8

— ANI (@ANI) January 22, 2020

The bench stated that it will not grant any stay on the new citizenship law without hearing the Centre. The central government replied that it wants time to respond to pleas which have not been served on it.

During the last hearing on December 18, the apex court had refused to stay the implementation of CAA and issued a notice to the central government.

Last year in December, the Indian government introduced a controversial bill in parliament that would give citizenship to non-Muslim minorities from three neighbouring countries Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan. This means the law will create a legal pathway to grant Indian nationality on the basis of religion.