Asaduddin Owaisi moves SC over CAA , urges the court to see 'unholy nexus' between CAA & NRC

AIMIM Supremo and Parliamentarian Asaduddin Owaisi who registered a protest against the Citizen Amendment Act 2019, has challenged it in the Supreme court. The barrister is accompanied by another petitioner TN Prathapan, who termed the act unconstitutional.

The both petitioners have challenged section 2,3,5 of the Citizen amendment act. Owaisi in the petition filed before SC challenged CAA on the grounds that it discriminates citizens on the bases of religion and illegally divides the migrants. The barrister urged the Court to lift the veil and observe the 'unholy nexus' between CAA and National Register of Citizens (NRC).

His petition read, "The classification in the Act is not founded on the basis of intelligible differentiate. The yardstick for the purpose of differentiation in the Act is the alleged persecution of religious minorities belonging to Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh. It includes Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians, but at the same time exclude other minorities facing discrimination or persecution on the basis of their religious/sectarian belief, such as Shia sects in Pakistan and the Hazaras in Afghanistan. .. The extension of the benefit of the Amending Act to one set of religious minorities but denying the same to other religious minorities fleeing persecution from the same countries is without nexus with the purported object sought to be achieved, which is the protection of minorities facing religious persecution in the Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh."

The Hyderabad MP’s petition termed the Amendment an ‘affront to constitutional morality’ and said it violated Articles 14, 15, 21 and 25. He highlighted that the Citizenship Amendment Act does not preside any standard principle or norm for choosing Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan for its applications, while it does not extend to religious minorities to other neighbouring countries such as Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Nepal, Bhutan and China. Earlier, Asaduddin tore a copy of the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill in the Lok Sabha, saying that the Bill 'tries to divide' the country.

On Friday, TMC MP Mahua Moitra too moved Supreme Court against the CAA, hours after it received President's nod. In her petition though she requested for an urgent hearing, Chief Justice of India S. A. Bobde asked him to approach the mentioning officer. Moitra's counsel told the bench that the plea be listed either during the day or on December 16.