It's been over a month now but there's no let up in the anti-CAA protests that have erupted across India. Over 25 people have been killed in violence in the unrest, allegedly in clashes between the police and protesters.
Even as this organic, grassroots movement continues to grow, the battle against the CAA is also being fought on a battlefield that has seen an increasing number of challenges to government action over the last few years: The Supreme Court of India.
On 22 January, 144 petitions relating to the CAA were listed together before Chief Justice SA Bobde.
And 142 of these petitions were AGAINST the Citizenship Amendment Act, with just two petitions FOR the Citizenship Amendment Act.
The government has now been given four weeks to reply to all the petitions - it was supposed to have responded to around 60 by now but had not done so, and is planning to respond to them all together.
The Court has also said that it will examine the petitions relating to Assam and Tripura SEPARATELY from the petitions against the CAA across India, AND indicated the matters will need to be heard by a five-judge Constitution Bench.
So, while those are the biggest takeaways from the CAA’s day in court, there’s more….MUCH more that we’ll be unpacking now, and understand… where the CAA protests stand.
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