| Syllabus: GS-II, Subject: Polity, Topic: legal issues, Issue: Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA), 2019. |
Context- Ministry of Home Affairs notified the Rules to implement the Citizenship Amendment Act-2019.
The Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA), 2019,
- Granting citizenship to migrants belonging to the Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi, or Christian communities who entered India before December 31, 2014 from Pakistan, Afghanistan, or Bangladesh.
- Certain areas, including tribal areas and those protected by the Inner Line system, exempted from the CAA.
It has been challenged in Supreme Court based on:
A) violation of Article 14, which guarantees equality before the law.
- Using religion as a criterion for citizenship violates the fundamental right to equality.
- Government argues that excluding Muslims is justified because Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh are Islamic countries.
- B) Compatibility with the Assam Accord.
- Clause 5 of the Assam Accord sets the base cut-off date for detecting “foreigners” as January 1, 1966, with provisions for regularization until March 24, 1971.
- Section 6A of The Citizenship Act allows migrants arriving in Assam between January 1, 1966, and March 25, 1971, to seek citizenship.
- A Constitution Bench has reserved its verdict on the validity of Section 6A.
- Upholding March 24, 1971, as the effective cut-off could challenge the compatibility of the CAA with the Assam Accord.
Related Concepts: The Assam Accord was an agreement between India’s government and Assam Movement leaders. Aimed to address the issue of illegal migrants in Assam.
