SC notice to Centre, Tripura on PIL challenging amendment in passport rules

The Supreme Court on Friday issued a notice to Centre and Tripura government on a PIL challenging the constitutional validity of the Passport (Entry into India) Amendment Rules, 2015, The Foreigners (Amendment) Order, 2015 that regularises the entry and stay of six communities into India who claim to be victims of religious persecution in their countries.

The PIL has been filed by Tripura People's Front headed by Patal Kanya Jamatia.

The Passport (Entry into India) Amendment Rules, 2015 and The Foreigners (Amendment) Order, 2015 grant exemption to "persons belonging to minority communities in Bangladesh and Pakistan, namely, Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians who were compelled to seek shelter in India due to religious persecution or fear of religious persecution and entered into India on or before December 31, 2014 ….from the application provisions of the Foreigners Act, 1946."

"The impugned provision would go to clearly show that the people of Tripura have been discriminated against and have been put to an obvious disadvantage without any reasonable basis. This has directly and substantially violated the petitioner's fundamental right under Article 14 of the Constitution," reads the PIL filed by Patal.