June deadline over, MHA seeks 3 months to frame CAA rules

NEW DELHI: The home ministry has told a parliamentary standing committee that it will need three more months to frame Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) rules.
Though CAA was passed by both Houses of Parliament on December 11 and a notification issued fixing January 10, 2020, as the date from which the Act would come into effect, the absence of rules has held up implementation of the law that seeks to confer citizenship to minorities from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan who were forced to migrate to India for fear of religious persecution in their home country.
According to the manual on parliamentary work, rules for legislation should be framed within six months of the date of the President’s assent or the standing committee on subordinate legislation should be approached for extension of time. The six-month period for framing CAA rules ended in mid-June. If the three-month extension sought is from then, it gives the home ministry time until mid-September to frame the rules. With the Supreme Court now resuming hearings on a full scale, the Centre is hoping the pending challenge against CAA will also be taken up. This may also provide some clarity for framing the rules and procedures.
Sources said additional time to frame CAA rules was sought from the parliamentary panel last week, as the ministry was preoccupied with other matters, including managing the Covid-19 crisis, for the past few months. The enactment of CAA had sparked widespread protests and sit-ins across the nation and also sparked off communal riots in Delhi in February