The Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) moved the Supreme Court on Thursday, 12 December, challenging the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, a day after it was passed in the Rajya Sabha, completing the legislative process for giving Indian citizenship to non-Muslim migrants from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh.
Along with the IUML, four other MPs – PK Kunhalikutty (Lok Sabha MP representing Kerala), ET Mohammed Basheer (Lok Sabha MP representing Kerala), Abdul Wahab (Rajya Sabha MP from Kerala) and K Navas Kani (Lok Sabha MP from Tamil Nadu) – also challenged the Bill.
The writ petition, filed by IUML, contends that the Bill illegally classifies people on the basis of religion.
“... benefits of naturalisation are being extended to a certain class of illegal migrants – Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan. Such classification on the basis of religious identity of the individual clearly violates Article 14 and Article 21 of the Constitution. Moreover, the classification based on the religious identity of the individual offends the fundamental principle of ‘Secularism’, which is enshrined as basic structure of the Constitution.”IUML’s writ petition, as quoted by Bar and Bench
The petition also contends that such a classification is unreasonable and explicitly entails discrimination against Muslims.
Senior advocate Kapil Sibal will appear for the petitioner in the court, reported IANS. The petition will be mentioned in the top court after the President gives assent to the Bill.
The Bill, which was cleared in Rajya Sabha on Wednesday, saw 125 MPs voting in its favour and 99 against it. It was passed in the Lok Sabha on the intervening night of 9-10 December.
(With Inputs from IANS, PTI & Bar and Bench) )
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