President of the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM), Asaduddin Owaisi, has moved the Supreme Court seeking a stay on the enforcement of the Citizenship Amendment Rules until the apex court resolves the challenges to the constitutional validity of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019.
The Central government, on March 11, paved the way for the enactment of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019, by notifying the relevant rules, four years subsequent to the passage of the controversial law by Parliament. This law aims to expedite Indian citizenship for undocumented non-Muslim migrants from Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan who entered India before December 31, 2014.
Owaisi, among the petitioners challenging certain provisions of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019, has lodged an application in the highest court seeking a suspension of the Act and the 2024 rules until the petitions are definitively resolved. He has also requested a directive that prohibits the consideration or processing of applications for citizenship status under section 6B of the Citizenship Act, 1955 (as amended by the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019) during the pendency of the proceedings.
“The petitioner contends in this writ petition that the Amendment Act is intricately linked with the National Register of Citizens (NRC) exercise, which has been concluded in Assam and is proposed to be initiated throughout the rest of the country,” the application, filed by advocate M R Shamshad, stated.
The application emphasizes that it is well-established legal precedent that the apex court possesses the authority to suspend a statutory provision as well as the rules issued under said statute and to defer its implementation while adjudicating the constitutional validity of the provision or the enactment.
“Furthermore, granting a stay on the implementation of the Amended Act and the 2024 Rules will not cause prejudice to the respondents (Center and others) as the Union of India itself has not put the Amendment Act into operation for over four (4) years,” the application asserted.
The apex court had previously agreed to hear on March 19 the pleas requesting a directive to the Center 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.
The Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), a political party based in Kerala, and three other petitioners have also filed interim pleas following the Center’s implementation of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 by notifying the rules. The IUML’s application seeks the court’s directive to ensure that no coercive action is taken against individuals belonging to the Muslim community pending the adjudication of the writ petitions.
Additionally, the Democratic Youth Federation of India has approached the apex court seeking a suspension of the rules. The Modi government initiated the process of granting Indian citizenship to persecuted non-Muslim migrants—Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists, Parsis, and Christians—from Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh by unveiling the rules on March 11, days before the announcement of the Lok Sabha elections.
According to a gazette notification, the rules came into force immediately.