CAA: Supreme Court asks Centre to publicise Citizenship Act to curb fake news

In order to curb fake news and clarify doubts, the Supreme Court on Wednesday asked the Centre to consider a plea seeking publicity of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). Considering a plea filed by a BJP leader and lawyer, Ashwini Upadhyay, a bench headed by Chief Justice S.A. Bobde and comprising Justices B.R. Gavai and Surya Kant suggested the Centre that they could give publicity to the Act. The plea suggests examining and explaining the aims, objectives, and benefits of the Act to the people.  

Petitioner seeking publicity of CAA 

Petitioner Ashwini Upadhyay claimed that he has filed a petition in SC because he is not against the new Act. However, he wanted the authorities to be directed to spread awareness about it. He stated that he has visited the place where protests against the Act were unfolding. Ashwini claimed the majority of protestors were not aware of the details. He stressed that this makes room for the miscreants to circulate damaging material against the Act. 

Read: Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi slams Cong over CAA, says PM Modi, Shah's claims are 'crystal clear'

The plea seeking publicity 

The plea read, "Publish aims, objects and benefits of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act in newspapers and through news channels to root out doubts being created by miscreants and to make common man aware about the Act". 

The apex court found the prayers in the plea very unusual and asked the Attorney General KK Venugopal, "Do you need a court order on it?” The Attorney stated that the court order was not required on the plea as "it's necessary and there are misunderstandings”. Earlier, the apex court had agreed to hear Upadhyay's plea seeking a direction to different states. The plea sought central, Delhi, UP and West Bengal governments to publicise aims, objectives and the benefits of the Act to counter fake news. 

Read: No Clarity on Citizenship Amendment Act: Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray

The Citizenship (Amendment) Act  

The Act seeks to provide citizenship to the minority communities namely Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan. This will be applicable to the members of these communities having arrived in India on or before December 31, 2014. Moreover, they will not be considered as illegal migrants.  

Read: Sonia Gandhi slams BJP over CAA says 'attack on students will be Modi's end' 

Additionally, the mandatory residence period for naturalised citizenship for these communities would be reduced to 5 years. Several parties in the North East such as the All Assam Students’ Union (AASU) have been vehemently opposed to this Bill. To ameliorate their concerns, the Centre has exempted a major part of the North East from the ambit of the CAA. The opposition contends that the Bill discriminates on the basis of religion, which might go against Article 14, which guarantees the right to equality.   

(With Agency Inputs)

Read: Kamal Haasan's party MNM opposes Citizenship (Amendment) Act in Supreme Court