Kerala Urges Supreme Court to Halt Implementation of Citizenship Amendment Act
The Central Government has issued the Citizenship Amendment Rules to enforce the contentious Citizenship Amendment Act of 2019, which has been embroiled in multiple ongoing legal disputes. This marks one among several applications filed seeking to halt the implementation of these rules.
The Kerala government led by Pinarayi Vijayan has petitioned the Supreme Court, requesting a suspension of the enforcement of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019, as reported by news agency ANI.
Describing the CAA Rules as ‘unconstitutional,’ the state government expressed that classifications founded on religion and country are discriminatory, arbitrary, unreasonable, and violate the principles of secularism.
“The defendant (Union) showing no urgency in the enactment of the 2019 Act itself serves as ample reason for suspending the 2024 rules,” the plea stated.
Arguing that the CAA was “arbitrary,” Kerala contended that the Rules constituted a form of “class legislation” that expedited the process for granting Indian citizenship to members of the Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi, or Christian communities who entered India on or before December 31, 2014, from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, or Pakistan.
“Classifications based on religion and country are inherently discriminatory. It is a well-established legal principle that legislation discriminating based on an intrinsic and fundamental characteristic of an individual cannot constitute a reasonable classification founded on an intelligible differentia,” the plea asserted.
The Supreme Court, on Friday, agreed to hear pleas on March 19 seeking a directive to the Centre to suspend the implementation of the Citizenship Amendment Rules, 2024, until the resolution of petitions challenging the constitutional validity of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019.
