TMC's Mahua Moitra challenges Citizenship Amendment Act in SC

Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Mahua Moitra on Friday moved the Supreme Court seeking an urgent listing of her petition challenging the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019.

Moitra's counsel sought an urgent listing of the petition following which the apex court asked them to go to the mentioning officer.

Two NGOs, Rihai Manch, and Citizens Against Hate, also filed a joint petition in the top court challenging the validity of the Citizenship Amendment Act.

"By introducing a religion test in India's citizenship law, the Amendment strikes a body blow to the basic structure of India's constitution, specifically its non-denominational character; and is manifestly arbitrary, constitutionally immoral, both in letter and in spirit," the petition filed through advocate Fauzia Shakil states.

Fazli Ahmed, General Secretary of Jan Adhikar Party, also approached the court seeking quashing of the Act by stating that it violates the basic structure of the Constitution.

"Equality before the law means the State will treat every class of persons without discrimination. The equal protection of law means the State will not frame laws or rules that discriminate between two persons," the petitioner stated.

Yesterday, the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) also filed a petition questioning the legality of the Act.

The plea stated that the law should be struck down for violating the fundamental right to equality under Article 14 of the Constitution.

Meanwhile, the Kerala Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala has also decided to join the CAB case in Supreme Court because CAB is violation of the Constitution.

"People of Kerala are against Citizenship Amendment Act", he said.

The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, which was passed by the Parliament earlier this week and has now become the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 following assent from President Ram Nath Kovind.

According to the Act, members of the Hindu, Christian, Sikh, Buddhist and Zoroastrian communities who have come from Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh till December 31, 2014, and facing religious persecution there will not be treated as illegal immigrants but given Indian citizenship.