DMK, DYFI And Assam Jamiat Ulema-E-Hind Move SC Against Citizenship(Amendment) Act 2019 [Read Petitions]

A PIL has been filed by the Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI), an organization of youth aggrieved by the enactment of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019. It was mentioned in the petition that it was the first time that religion was introduced as a criteria for acquisition of Indian citizenship for illegal migrants from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh and such classification based on religious identity is a clear violation of Article 14 and 21 of the Constitution. The petition alleged that the final list of NRC for the resident of Assam was published on 31.08.2019. And, there were applications of 3.3 crore people in NRC list and final list have included 3.11 crore people and excluded 19.06 lakh people. "It is yet unclear exact number of how many people belonging to Hindu religion and Islam religion are being excluded by virtue of the process of National Register of Citizens in the State of Assam", said the petitioner.A Law student from Symbiosis Law School, Two Lawyers Move SC challenging the Constitutional Validity of #CitizenshipAmendmentAct2019 l #CitizenshipBill #CitizenshipAmmendmentBill2019 #SupremeCourt— Live Law (@LiveLawIndia) December 13, 2019 While aggrieved by the enactment of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act 2019, the petitioner said that the Act denies the right to acquire citizenship to religiously persecuted Ahamadiya Muslims and Shia Muslims and the same is in the case with Rohingya Muslim migrants coming to India due to religious presecution by Myanmar and also the Hindu illegal migrants from Sri Lanka on religious persecution despite the fact that they are of Indian origin. The petitioner remarked that the Act does not have reasonable classification based on intelligible differentia. And that the classification based on religion violates Article 14 of the Constitution. The petition also mentioned the case of Navtej Singh Johar v. Union of India, where the Supreme Court held, "a legislation discriminated on the basis of an intrinsic and core trait of an individual, it cannot form a reasonable classification based on an intelligible differentia." If the object of the Act is to protect the 'minorities who faced religious persecution in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh mentioned in the act, then the Ahamadiyya and Shia sections from these countries are entitled to equal treatment for the benefit of this Act. But denying the same to Ahamadiyyas and Hazaras and Shia sections within these countries is unable to satisfy the objective sought to be achieved, which is said to be the protection of minorities facing religious persecution, said the petitioner. It was also contended that this Act is in total conflict with Article 15 of the Universal Declaration of Human RIghts (UDHR) and Article 26 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). The petitioner prayed for declaring the Citizenship (Amendment) Act 2019 to be in violation of Article 14 of the Constitution since it is discriminatory, manifestly arbitrary, unreasonable and irrational and hence striking down the same as unconstitutional. Petition filed by DMK The prime opposition party in the State of Tamil Nadu, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) has also moved a PIL opposing the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019. The petition begins by quoting the line of a great Tamil poet, "Yaadhum Oore Yaavarum Kelir", which means, to us all towns are our own, everyone our kin. The petitioner remarked that "the Act is a classic example of spewing venom against one section of the human race by targeting Muslim community and letting down the Tamils who have come from the neighbouring country as refugees, who are similarly placed in the impugned Act and are staying for more than several decades together in the State of Tamil Nadu." The petition further contended that the Act is arbitrary as it related to only three countries, i.e., Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh and confines only to Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi and Christian communities. And also said that there are no reasonable classification to confine the above three countries, as people from other countries who are similarly situated will be kept away from such benefits and therefore the impugned act is irrational, whimsical, fanciful and manifestly arbitrary. It was also observed that the Act is ignorant of Clause 6 of the Assam Accord signed in the year 1985 which provides constitutional, legislative and administrative safeguards to protect, preserve and promote the cultural, social, linguistic identity and heritage of the Assamese people. The petition also reiterated that the Act is in violation of Article 14 and 21 of the Constitution of India. The PIL prayed to declare the CItizenship (Amendment) Act 2019 as unconstitutional, null and void and violative of Article 14 and...

DMK, DYFI And Assam Jamiat Ulema-E-Hind Move SC Against Citizenship(Amendment) Act 2019 [Read Petitions]

Arabhi Anandan

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