Supreme Court to begin final hearing on CAA pleas from May 5
Chief Justice Kant said that the bench would conclude the hearing on May 12.
A file image of the Supreme Court (Photo: @TheDailyPioneer/X)
NEW DELHI, Feb 20: The Supreme Court on Thursday said that it will start the final hearing on May 5 on over 200 pleas challenging the constitutional validity of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 (CAA).
A bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices Joymalaya Bagchi and Vipul M Pancholi issued procedural directions regarding the final hearings on the petitions, which have been pending since 2019-2020.
The bench said that it would hear the petitioners, including the lead petitioner, the Indian Union of Muslim League (IUML), for one-and-a-half days, while the Centre will be given one day to present its arguments. The bench has also asked the parties to file additional documents and submissions within four weeks.
Chief Justice Kant said that the bench would conclude the hearing on May 12.
The bench also said that it would first hear pleas relating to the pan-India application of CAA and thereafter take up petitions concerning Assam and Tripura in line with an earlier 2020 order directing segregation of the matters.
The apex court on Thursday also disposed of a PIL challenging the Election Commission of India s decision to conduct Special Revision of electoral rolls in Assam instead of a Special Intensive Revision (SIR) ahead of the 2026 Assembly elections, terming it as infructuous.
The bench of CJI Surya Kant, Justices Bagchi and Pancholi passed the order, after hearing advocate Vijay Hansaria (for petitioner) and advocate Dama Seshadri Naidu (for poll panel).
During the hearing, Hansaria argued that the only reason given by the ECI for not conducting SIR was that there is National Register of Citizens (NRC) in the State, which is being monitored by the Supreme Court.
However, there is no case pending as such.
Naidu, on the other hand, informed that the SR was already complete and therefore the case has been rendered infructuous. The PIL was filed by Mrinal Kumar Choudhary, former president of the Gauhati High Court Bar Association.
By
A Correspondent