There are at least 143 petitions before the court against the citizenship law.
The Supreme Court on Thursday said it will hear pleas challenging the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) after arguments in the Sabarimala matter are over.
A bench headed by Chief Justice S A Bobde said this after senior advocate Kapil Sibal sought urgent hearing of CAA matters and said that till date, the Centre has not filed a reply in the matter. Attorney General K K Venugopal told the court that the Centre would be filing a reply in a few days.
CJI Bobde told Sibal to mention the matter before the court again after Holi.
There are at least 143 petitions before the court against the citizenship law. The petitions contend that CAA stands against the basic structure of the Constitution and is illegal. Some of the petitions have also sought the legislation that came into force on January 10 be withdrawn. Petitioners include Congress MP Jairam Ramesh, the Indian Union Muslim League, and its MPs, Lok Sabha MP and AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi, TMC MP Mahua Moitra, All Assam Students’ Union and Tripura royal scion Pradyot Kishore Deb Barman.
Meanwhile, a nine-judge bench is re-examining various religious issues, including the entry of women into the Sabarimala temple and mosques, and the practice of female genital mutilation in the Dawoodi Bohra community.