SC seeks responses from Centre, Assam on Hiren Gohain’s plea objecting CAA rules

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court has sought responses from both the central and the Assam government regarding a plea challenging the recently notified citizenship amendment rules.

These rules are designed to regulate the process of granting citizenship to non-Muslim migrants, who arrived in India from neighbouring Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan before December 31, 2014.

A bench comprising chief justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud and justice JB Pardiwala acknowledged the arguments presented by a lawyer representing petitioner Hiren Gohain, a revered intellectual from Assam.

Notices have been issued to the Assam government and the union ministries of home affairs and external affairs.

The Supreme Court has also directed that the new petition be consolidated with existing cases on the same subject.

The latest plea asserts that the unchecked influx of illegal migrants from Bangladesh into Assam has led to significant demographic shifts, resulting in indigenous people becoming a minority in their own land.

Previously, the bench declined to halt the implementation of the CAA rules but asked the Centre to respond to applications seeking a suspension of their enforcement until the Supreme Court resolves the challenges to the citizenship amendment act.

Gohain, in his petition, argued that the CAA rules 2024, are unconstitutional as they are discriminatory, arbitrary and contrary to the fundamental principles of the Constitution of India.