The Supreme Court (SC,) on the 18th of December, refused to stay the recently imposed the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019.
On the 18th of December, the SC reviewed the petition filed against the Central Government’s Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 and the Delhi Police for their violent action against the Jamia Millia Islamia (JMI) university students.
A total of 59 petitions were filed in the SC against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019.
Advocate Rajiv Dhawan, who was reviewing the petitions, said since the Act has not yet come into effect, therefore, a stay order is not required.
Meanwhile, S.A. Bobde, the Chief Justice of India (CJI,) who is leading the bench which is constituted for the case, said the SC would not hear the petition demanding the stay of the Act today.
People across Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Madhya Pradesh Assam and other northeastern regions are protesting against the Act, which promises citizenship to refugees fleeing from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh.
The Act is going to provide citizenship to Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists, Christians, Parsis and Hindus if they have been living in India since or before the 31st of December, 2014.
While the situation in Hyderabad and West Bengal is calm now, students of the Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) and the JMI in Delhi intensified their protests. The Assamese are also against the Act as they fear losing their cultural identity in the State.
The police forces in the respective regions are deployed in huge numbers to control the situation.
Meanwhile, CJI Bobde adjourned the hearing of the petitions filed against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 to the 22nd of January, 2020.
Stay tuned for further updates.
