Citizenship Amendment Act: 60 Petitions to be considered by Supreme Court today

The Supreme Court of India will take up 60 petitions filed by 59 parties challenging or in some way relating to the newly introduced Citizenship Amendment Act, 2019 on Wednesday. A three-judge bench headed by the Chief Justice of India S.A. Bobde and comprising of Justice B.R. Gavai and Justice Surya Kant will decide whether or not the legislation will be put through judicial scrutiny of the Apex Court. The petitioners before the top court include opposition party leaders, student organisations from Assam, NGOs, Muslim organisations and private citizens.

Read: Madras University Students Join Protest Against The Citizenship Amendment Bill

The complete list of the petitioners is as under:

Indian Union Muslim League
Mahua Moitra
Rihai Manch
All Assam Students Union
Makkal Needhi Maiam 
Asom Gana Parishad
All Assam Lawyers Association
Jairam Ramesh
Ehtesham Hashmi
Peace Party
Sayyed Farooq
Debabrata Saikia
Pradyot Deb Burman
Asaduddin Owaisi
United Against Hate
Abu Sohel 
Intekhab Alam 
Padi Richo 
Peter Aiborlang Dohkrut
Ramesh Chennithala
Tamil Nadu Muslim Munnetra Kazhagam Trust
Nishtha Ganesh
Mohd Faziluddin
Deb Mukharji IFS (Retd)
TN Prathapan
Ajanta Neog 
Tehseen S. Poonawala
Edara E. Sharia
Social Democratic Party of India
Jamiat Ulama E Hind thru it’s Gen Sec
Maitur Rahman
Suhas Chakma 
Muslim Advocates Association
Rangon Choudhury
Harsh Mander
Democratic Youth Federation of India
Assam State Jamiat Ulema
North East Students Organisation
Assam Association of the Deaf
National People’s Party
Anjum Parvez
Assam Pradesh Congress Committee
Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay
Kerala Muslim Jamaath 
Hiren Gohain
Digboli IOCL Contractor Association
Jamiat Ulama E Hind 
Umar M
Prasenjit Bose
Mohd Azam Hashmati 
Loktantrik Yuva Janata Dal
Prof Manoj Kumar Jha
Asom Jaityatabadi Yuba Chatra Parishad
Jitendra Chaudhary
Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam
Thol. Thirumaavalavan
Tripura People’s Front
Prashant Padmanabhan 
All Assam Matak Sanmilan
Mohd. Ghouse

Read: Amid The Growing CAA Protests, UP Police Conduts Flag March To Maintain Law And Order

Grounds for challenging the CAA

The petitions before the Supreme Court have challenged the CAA on the basis that it’s discriminatory on grounds of religion by allowing citizenship to be granted only to non-Muslim immigrants from neighbouring countries of Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh. The petitions also state that the Act does not include all minorities from the neighbouring countries and that the classification of the religious groups as well as which countries should fall under the Act is arbitrary and baseless. The primary reason why the first hearing before the top court becomes even more crucial on Wednesday is because if the Supreme Court decides to consider the petitions, that will mean that the Act which has caused widespread unrest across the country will require a stamp of approval from the Supreme Court before ever seeing light of the day. The Act can then be expected to undergo a rigorous scrutiny vis-a-vis the Constitution of India before the Supreme Court.

Read: Citizenship Amendment Act Protest: Mayawati To Meet President, Seek Withdrawal Of Law

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