Achi news desk-
GUWAHATI: The Supreme Court has issued notices to the Center and the Assam government in response to a petition challenging the Citizenship (Amendment) Rules, 2024. These rules aim to facilitate and regularize the process of granting Indian citizenship to non-Muslim immigrants from Pakistan. , Bangladesh and Afghanistan that arrived before December 31, 2014.
A bench comprising Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and Justice JB Pardiwala heard the submissions made by a lawyer representing the petitioner Hiren Gohain, a resident of Guwahati. The court ordered the state government and the union ministries for internal and external affairs to respond to the request.
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Furthermore, the Supreme Court ordered the consolidation of the fresh argument with those already pending on the issue.
The latest application, which addressed the controversial issue, highlighted the concerns regarding the "An uncontrolled flow of illegal immigrants from Bangladesh" into Assam. He highlighted the demographic changes in the region, where natives have become minorities in their own country.
Gohain, in his suit, argued that the Citizenship (Amendment) Rules of 2024 are unconstitutional because they are discriminatory, arbitrary and contrary to the basic structure of the Constitution. He claimed that these rules violate fundamental rights guaranteed by Articles 14, 15, 19 and 21 of the Constitution.
The petitioner filed the suit both in his personal capacity and as a representative of the natives of Assam.
The request emphasized that the issue of illegal immigration is not communal but concerns the influx of foreigners into the territory of India. He stated that the population of Assam includes mainly native Assamese, along with Bengali-speaking Hindus and Muslims, and immigrants from other states in India.
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The Citizenship (Amendment) Rules, 2024, were unveiled on March 11, just days before the announcement of the Lok Sabha elections. The rules came into effect immediately, with the aim of granting Indian citizenship to persecuted non-Muslim immigrants from neighboring countries.
The implementation of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019, and its accompanying rules was controversial, sparking protests across the country in late 2019 and early 2020 over allegations of discrimination.
