Former Bureaucrats and retired IAS officers Move Sc Challenging Citizenship(Amendment)Act,2019 [Read Petition]
By: – Syed Ali Taher Abedi
Former Ambassador for India to Nepal and former Indian High Commissioner in Bangladesh Deb Mukherji, Former IAS officers Somasundar Burra and Amitabha Pande moved Supreme Court Challenging the Constitutional Validity of Citizenship (Amendment) Act 2019
The petitioners contended that the impugned Act violates Articles 14, 21, 25, and 51 of the Constitution, as well as India’s obligations under international law.
The impugned Act discriminates between refugees and asylum seekers within the territory of India on two personal characteristics: (a) their religion, and (b) their country of origin.
Neither basis can withstand constitutional scrutiny.
The justification(s) provided in the Act’s Statement of Objects and Reasons (cross-border migration and religious persecution) do not satisfy the requirements of Articles 14 and 21.
They further submits that the laws dealing with the status of the non-nationals as well as laws which confer or withdraw citizenship, ought to be subjected to a particularly rigorous standard of scrutiny as.
They further submit that making religion the basis of Citizenship (by naturalisation) violates.
Indian secularism, as it privileges some religions over others, it also goes against the founding basis of the constitution and the Nation, which did not privilege any specific religion over others.
It is mentioned in the petition that, using religion as a proxy for determining whether or not an individual has been subjected to persecution within India’s neighbouring countries is directly at odds with reality. In both its form and its effect, therefore, the impugned Act treats refugees who belong to one religion as less worthy of equal concern and respect than refugees who belongs to a different religion.
Therefore it is the direct discrimination on the basis of religion.
They further submitted that Indian secularism does not permit religion and faith to determine an individual’s civil status in the polity (through citizenship).
And it certainly does not permit that to be done in discriminatory fashion.
The petition is drawn by
Advocates Gautam Bhatia,Abhinav Shikri,Jhanvi Sindhu,Suriti Narayan,Shruti Parthasarthy, Bharat Gupta and filed by Advocate Shadan Farasat
Read Synopsis and Petition Here
