India / Centre request to high court transfer all pleas against CAA to supreme court

The central government has approached the Supreme Court seeking transfer of all the cases challenging Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) pending in various high courts to the apex court.

The plea was mentioned today by Centre’s second senior-most law officer, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, before Chief Justice of India (CJI) Sharad Arvind Bobde.

Mehta told the court that multiplicity of proceedings will lead to different conclusions regarding the validity of the act and it was, therefore, appropriate that the Supreme Court transfers all the cases in various high courts to itself.

CJI Bobde agreed to hear the plea on Friday this week.

The CAA, which seeks to fast-track citizenship to non-Muslim minorities from three neighbouring countries, has been challenged in various courts. While at least 60 petitions have been filed in the Supreme Court challenging the act, high courts have also taken up various matters connected with their respective jurisdiction.

The Karnataka high court had even remarked on Tuesday that the Supreme Court has not passed any order barring HCs from taking up the matter and it will, therefore, hear a petition challenging CAA.

A petition was filed in the Delhi High Court against the violence at Jamia Millia Islamia University during the protest against CAA. The court will hear the case in February this year. Similar petitions were also filed in the Allahabad High Court over violence in Aligarh Muslim University (AMU), where students protested in solidarity with Jamia.

Petitioners have approached various other high courts to decide on various issues arising out of the protests against CAA, as well as the constitutionality of the act itself.