CAA application unequal to citizenship, says SC
New Delhi | Desk: In a significant observation, the Supreme Court clarified that simply applying under the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) will not grant anyone Indian citizenship. A bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Jaymalya Bagchi clarified that the decision to grant citizenship will be made only after thorough verification of each applicant's claim and the documents submitted by them.
According to a report in The Wire, this observation came during the hearing of a petition filed by the NGO Atmadeep. The petition stated that minorities fleeing religious persecution from Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Afghanistan have been living in West Bengal for a long time. These people live in fear of becoming stateless due to the lack of citizenship certificates and the fear of being deleted from the ongoing Special Revision of Electoral Rolls (SIR).
During the hearing, the Chief Justice said, "You are claiming that you have been granted citizenship based on the amended policies of the Citizenship Act. But merely seeking citizenship does not confer citizenship. When claiming citizenship, each person must provide sufficient evidence to prove that they belong to a religious minority in which country, their religion, their length of stay in that country, and the circumstances under which they were forced to leave the country. The administration must verify all of this."
The bench stated that while the CAA has created some functional rights for minorities facing religious persecution, each case must be investigated individually before implementing those rights. The administration is responsible for verifying the applicant's statements and documents to ensure that the person is truly eligible for citizenship under the law.
Atmdeep's petition also claimed that many applicants have not yet received a certificate of citizenship, and that even the receipt acknowledging the application is not being considered as a document in the current SIR. This threatens to lead to thousands of people being excluded from the electoral rolls.
A bench headed by Chief Justice Surya Kant directed the central government to be apprised of the entire matter and said that effective steps should be taken to ensure the speedy and proper disposal of all citizenship applications.
This latest observation by the Supreme Court, cited in a report by The Hindu, has given a new direction to the ongoing controversy over the implementation of the CAA and the future of minority applicants, clarifying the top court's stance.
