(Image source from: News18.com)

The Citizenship Amendment Act, or CAA, will not be stayed by the Supreme Court. The court has given the government a deadline of three weeks, until April 8, to respond to 237 petitions that challenge the law. The petitioners have also been granted permission to approach the court if citizenship is granted to any individual before that date. Solicitor-General Tushar Mehta, representing the government, did not make any definitive statements. Initially, Mehta had requested four weeks to respond to the petitions. The Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, Justice JB Pardiwala, and Justice Manoj Misra heard the matter. The petitioners included the Indian Union Muslim League, Jairam Ramesh of the Congress, and Mahua Moitra of the Trinamool. The next hearing for this case is scheduled for April 9.

The government has been requested to temporarily halt the implementation of the CAA, which has been deemed discriminatory against the Muslim community. Although the petitioners have agreed to give the government additional time to examine the challenges, they have urged the Chief Justice-led bench to issue an order to suspend implementation. In 2019, several challenges were filed after the citizenship bill was approved by Parliament, but implementation was not paused as the rules had not been officially notified. However, in the present situation, the rules have been notified, as pointed out by Mr. Sibal during the recent argument.

Under the CAA, individuals who are non-Muslim migrants from Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Afghanistan and are fleeing religious persecution can apply for citizenship. Those belonging to Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi, or Christian communities from these three nations are eligible if they entered the country on or before December 31, 2014. The government has faced criticism for the timing of the law's implementation, which occurred four years after its clearance by Parliament and just days before a general election. Mr. Ramesh has claimed that this move was clearly intended to polarize the elections, particularly in West Bengal and Assam.