Supreme Court to hear 60 petitions from activists, politicians against citizenship law today

There have been widespread protests across the country since the new law came into effect.

The Supreme Court will, on Wednesday, hear a bunch of 60 petitions against the citizenship law which came into effect recently. The petitioners include politicians as well as other eminent people from all walks of life.

The petitioners include politicians as well as other eminent people from all walks of life. (Amal KS/HT Photo)

Activists Harsh Mander, Aruna Roy, Nikhil Dey, historian Irfan Habib, economist Prabhat Patnaik and some organisations have approached the court challenging the constitutional validity of Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 and sought direction to strike it down. So has politicians like Mahua Moitra, Jairam Ramesh, Asaduddin Owaisi, and political outfits like Asom Gana Parishad and Kamal Haasan’s Makkal Needhi Maiam.

“Granting citizenship on the basis of religion goes against the grain of our Constitution. Religious pluralism and secularism have been the foundation of our country since Independence,” the petitioners have said.

They said that the Act also violates Article 21 of the Constitution as it is against the right to live with dignity of individuals who are not covered under the special dispensation of the Amendment Act, solely on the basis of their membership to a particular religion.

Muslim Advocates Association, a registered society, has also approached the Supreme Court challenging the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 asking to declare the new law as unconstitutional.

Today is the last working day of the Supreme Court before it closes for winter vacation for January 1, 2020.

There have been widespread protests across the country since the new law came into effect. Protesters, especially students, have taken out marches against the law.

Several protesters and policemen sustained injuries during one such protest against the new citizenship law near the Jamia university campus on December 15. At least three buses were set on fire and other public properties were also damaged in the protest.

A protest was also reported in Seelampur area of national capital Delhi. In the clashes, police fired shots in the air and lobbed more than 60 rounds of tear gas at protesters, some with their faces covered, who threw bricks, stones and bottles at police.

About 10 people, including policemen, were injured in the violence, an official said.

The government has, meanwhile, said there is no question of going back on its implementation.