The matter of the cut-off year for Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) was not taken up by the Supreme Court on Wednesday. This comes after the apex court agreed to hear the petitions filed in connection with the matter after hearing the cases pertaining to the Maharashtra political crisis.
The case was not taken up in the constitutional tribunal of the Chief Justice even today as the hearing on the Maharashtra matter is yet to be over.
Meanwhile, speaking on the issue, one of the main petitioners, Matiur Rahman of the Asom Sanmilita Mahasangha expressed hope that the top court will rule in favour of having 1951 as the cut-off year for the act that has drawn a lot of controversy since its introduction.
He said, “We hope that the Supreme Court will rule in favour of 1951 being the cut-off year.”
On the other hand, the chief advisor of All Assam Students’ Union (AASU), Samujjal Bhattacharjya said, “AASU wants a permanent solution to foreigners issue in accordance with tripartite Assam agreement.”
It may be noted that in December last year, the Supreme Court deferred the hearing on the matter until after the winter break after it had initially agreed to take up the hearing in the case.
Regional parties including AASU and the Asom Jatiyatabadi Yuba Chatra Parishad (AJYCP) criticized the governments of Assam and Tripura for not submitting the undertaking in connection with the matter in time.
The parties from Assam, who are the main forces behind the protests against the controversial citizenship law, had expressed hope that the Supreme Court will do justice and exclude the northeastern states from coming under the ambit of the law.
The Supreme Court had earlier directed, “Having noted that there are various pleas projecting multiple views, resolution of entire controversy can be achieved if two or three matters are taken as lead matters and convenience compilations of all counsels are prepared well in advance. This will make proceedings convenient. Pleadings in IUML are complete and were filed by Adv Pallavi Pratap. We appoint Ms Pratap and Mr Kanu Agrawal as nodal counsel. These counsels are requested to have common compilation of all relevant documents.”
