The Supreme Court (SC,) on the 16th of December, agreed to review the petitions filed against the Delhi Police and the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019, but put forth a condition to do so.
The Indian National Congress (INC) filed a petition against the Delhi Police for injuring the Jamia Millia Islamia (JMI) university students when they protested against the Act.
Another petition was filed against the Central Government’s Citizenship (Amendment) Act, which provides citizenship to refugees from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan who have been residing in India since or before the 31st of December, 2014, based on their religion.
The JMI students, Muslim associations and other students’ bodies protested against the Central Government with a demand to withdraw the Act. The situation worsened in the majority of areas in India, costing people their lives. The JMI students even claimed they were assaulted and mistreated by the Delhi Police. Twitter is flooded with video clips and tweets seeking answers from the Central Government about its stand on the matter.
Northeastern states like Assam, Tripura, Meghalaya and other regions are also against the Act as they believe it is detrimental to their cultural and traditional beliefs.
Besides, opposition parties, political leaders and others extended support to the Muslim organisations and JMI students in the protests and approached the SC to intervene in the matter and review the petition filed by the INC.
A bench headed by Chief Justice of India S.A. Bobde said, “All these burning of buses and pelting stones must stop. We will take up the matter tomorrow if the violence stops.”
The SC bench of judges also criticised the students who are protesting and said if the students prefer going to the streets and protesting violently, then they should not approach the Court.
The bench said, “We can’t be bullied in this manner to hear this matter.” Indira Jaising and Colin Gonsalves are representing the JMI and the Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) respectively in the Court.
When the lawyers started defending the action of the students by citing the Delhi Police’s action against the students, the SC said “That is no licence to break law and order. We all know how rioting happens…all this has to stop. What is this? Public property is being destroyed.”
The petition demanded action against the Delhi Police and compensation and medical facilities for the students who died or suffered serious injuries.
The SC would take up the matter if the students in Delhi stop the violent protests.
Stay tuned for further updates.
