SC refuses to stay Citizenship (Amendment) Act; gives 4 weeks to Centre to respond

The Supreme Court on Wednesday refused a stay on the implementation of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act or CAA. A bench, headed by Chief Justice SA Bobde, granted four weeks time

The Supreme Court on Wednesday refused a stay on the implementation of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act or CAA. A bench, headed by Chief Justice SA Bobde, granted four weeks time to the Centre to reply to the petitions challenging the contentious Act.

The Court has for the first time noted that the situation in Assam and Tripura is different and needs to be handled separately.

Chief Justice SA Bobde said that there would be separate hearing for CAA pleas from Assam and Tripura. In fact, the CJI has said that all cases from Assam and Tripura will be listed separately under one category.

Meanwhile, the Court hinted at setting up a larger five-Judge Constitution bench for pleas regarding the Citizenship (Amendment) Act.

The Apex Court has given the Centre only two weeks to respond to pleas from Assam and Tripura, while it can take 4 weeks to respond to the rest of the pleas.

The Supreme Court has also asked the high courts across the country to restrain from passing any orders on the Citizenship (Amendment) Act. The Apex Court has also rejected Congress’ plea to defer implementation of CAA by two months.

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