New Delhi: The Supreme Court said on Monday it will hear on October 31 a batch of pleas challenging the constitutional validity of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA).
A bench comprising Chief Justice U.U. Lalit and Justice S.R. Bhat noted the matter will be referred to a three-judge bench.
The CAA seeks to grant citizenship to non-Muslim migrants from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan who entered India on or before December 31, 2014.
The bench took up a batch of around 200 petitions on the matter and issued directions on the completion of procedural formalities.
The top court asked the Centre to file its response to the petitions and sought replies from the states of Assam and Tripura as well on pleas specific to them.
During the hearing on Monday, solicitor general Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Centre, told the bench that several issues had been raised in the petitions filed before the top court.
“Our reply is filed so far as some amendments and challenges are concerned. In some of the matters, our reply is yet to be filed,” he said.
In January 2020, the apex court made it clear it will not stay the operation of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act without hearing the Centre.
Seeking a response from the central government in four weeks to a batch of pleas challenging the CAA, the top court had also restrained high courts in the country from proceedings with pending petitions on the issue.
Several petitions have been filed challenging the constitutional validity of the amended law, including Congress MP Jairam Ramesh, Muslim body Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind, All Assam Students Union (AASU), Peace Party, CPI, NGO ‘Rihai Manch’, advocate M.L. Sharma, and law students have also approached the apex court challenging the Act.