Centre seeks extension till January 9 for framing CAA rules

NEW DELHI: The central government has sought extension till January 9 for framing rules of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), which was passed by Parliament in 2019, Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai informed Lok Sabha on Tuesday.

He was replying to a question from Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi on whether the government had missed the deadline to frame and notify CAA rules and the steps taken in this context.

"The Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 (CAA) has been notified on 12.12.2019 and has come into force w.e.f. 10.01.2020," the minister said.

"The Committees on Subordinate Legislation, Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha have been requested to grant further extension of time upto 09.01.2022 to frame the rules under the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019," Rai said.

The CAA envisages to grant Indian nationality to persecuted non-Muslim minorities of Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan.

This is the fifth extension sought by the government for framing of these rules.

According to the Manual on Parliamentary Work, the rules for any legislation should have been framed within six months of presidential assent or seek extension.

The objective of the CAA is to grant Indian citizenship to persecuted minorities like Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists, Parsis and Christians from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan.

Those from these communities who had come to India till December 31, 2014, facing religious persecution there, will not be treated as illegal immigrants but given Indian citizenship.

After the CAA was passed by Parliament, widespread protests were witnessed in different parts of the country leading to deaths of nearly 100 people in police firing and related violence.