Supreme Court seeks reply from Centre, Assam on new plea against CAA rules

Staff Reporter

Guwahati: On Friday, replies were sought by the Supreme Court from the Centre and the Assam governments on a plea challenging the Citizenship (Amendment) Rules, 2024, which were framed to make the Act operational and regulate the process of granting Indian citizenship to people who migrated from Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan because of religious persecution before December 31, 2014.

The SC bench of Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud and Justice JB Pardiwala noted the submissions of a lawyer who represented Hiren Gohain and issued notices to the state government and the union ministries of Home Affairs and External Affairs in connection with the plea. The apex court also ordered a fresh plea to be tagged along with those pending on the hugely contentious issue.

The plea by Gohain said that the uncontrolled influx of illegal migrants from Bangladesh has caused huge demographic changes in Assam. The indigenous people, who were once considered the majority, have now become a minority in their own land, the plea said. 

The bench recently refused to stay the operation of the CAA Rules and asked the Centre to respond to the petitions seeking a stay on the implementation of the Rules until the apex court disposes of the pleas challenging the validity of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019.

In his plea, Gohain said the CAA Rules 2024 are ‘ultra-vires’ to the Constitution, terming them ‘palpably discriminatory, manifestly arbitrary, illegal, and against the basic structure of the Constitution.’

The plea stated that the impugned Citizenship (Amendment) Rules, 2024, passed by the Centre, are in violation of the petitioners’ fundamental rights as guaranteed under Articles 14 (Right to equality), 15 (Right against discrimination on basis of religion, race, caste, etc.), 19 (Freedom of speech and expression), 21 (Right to life and personal liberty), etc., of the Constitution.

Gohain asserted that he has filed the plea not only in his personal capacity but also in his capacity as the representative of a majority of the indigenous people living in Assam, who want enforcement of their fundamental rights.

The issue of the ‘uncontrolled’ influx of illegal migrants from Bangladesh to Assam was not a communal issue, the plea said. It is stated that it is neither a Hindu-Muslim issue nor an indigenous people-against-Bengali immigrants. Rather, it is an issue of infiltrators of foreign origin, whether they are Hindus or Muslims, who have been inundating the land, belonging for centuries to the indigenous people of Assam, it stated. To put it simply, it is an issue between Indians and non-Indians or foreigners and one that is of grave importance for the entire nation, as stated.

It is also stated that, according to the 2011 census, the population of Assam was put at around 3.21 crore, out of which only 1.34 crore are indigenous Assamese people. This figure includes Assamese Muslims and indigenous people belonging to different tribes like Bodo, Missing, Rabha, Karbi, etc. Moreover, there are about 48 lakh people that comprise the tea tribe population, it said, with the sum total of the two figures adding up to around 1.82 crore. It added that a major part of the remaining population of Assam essentially comprises Bengali-speaking Hindus and Muslims, and a minor part comprises Hindi or other language-speaking people who migrated from the other states of India to Assam.

The rules were unveiled on March 11, just days ahead of the announcement of the Lok Sabha elections, and the Modi government kicked off the process of granting Indian citizenship to persecuted non-Muslim migrants like Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists, Parsis, and Christians from Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh. According to a gazette notification, the rules came into force with immediate effect.

 Also Read: Assam: Mamata Banerjee Promises No CAA, NRC Under INDI Alliance Rule (sentinelassam.com)

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