P. Sandosh Kumar, a sitting member of the Rajya Sabha along with other individuals has filed a writ petition before the Supreme Court of India challenging the constitutional validity of the Citizenship Amendment Act, 2019 (CAA) and the Citizenship Amendment Rules, 2024. The Petitioners are represented by CLPR’s Constitution Defender Fellow, Advocate Ujjaini Chatterji. On 20 September 2024, the Supreme Court issued a notice in the case and tagged it with a batch of petitions challenging the CAA and its rules.
The grounds for the challenge are that while the CAA was initially introduced as a “refugee law”, the Act does not define the term “refugee” and instead creates provisions for “illegal migrants” from Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan, belonging to Hindu, Christian, Sikh, Parsi, Buddhist, and Jain religions to become citizens. It has been stated that these communities are considered “persecuted minorities” and therefore need protection. However, the Rules do not require any proof or statement of “persecution” whatsoever. The Rules only require an applicant to establish an “eligibility certificate” issued by a “locally reputed community institution” confirming that he/she belongs to the “Hindu/ Sikh/ Buddhist/ Jain/ Parsi/ Christian community and continues to be a member of the above-mentioned community, thereby making religion, not persecution, the sole basis for granting citizenship to certain “illegal migrants”.
Therefore, while a category of “illegal migrants” from Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan, belonging to the Hindu, Christian, Sikh, Parsi, Buddhist, and Jain communities shall be rewarded with citizenship solely based on their religious identity, all other “illegal migrants” shall be punished as per the Foreigners Act, 1946, the Passports Act (Entry into India), 1920 and eventually deported or thrown into detention centres, often indefinitely. This action is not only a violation of the right against discrimination and equality before the law, as per Article 14 of the Constitution of India, which applies to all individuals within the territory of India, including non-citizens, but also an aggravated infringement of the right to life and personal liberty, which is also available to all individuals within the Indian territory, including non-citizens. These violations constitute cruel, degrading, and inhuman treatment, amounting to torture.
The case is currently pending before the Court.