NEW DELHI: The Union Ministry of Home Affairs has sought yet another extension from the parliamentary committees for framing the rules of the controversial Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) on the ground that the matter is pending before the Supreme Court, this newspaper has learnt.
A senior home ministry official said: “The MHA has written to the subordinate committees on legislation in both Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha, requesting more time to frame the rules for CAA.” Another MHA official told this newspaper that the extension has been sought because of the Covid situation and on the ground that the matter is sub judice. “A bunch of petitions challenging the Act are pending before the Supreme Court and it is a factor for seeking more time,” he said.
On January 9 the MHA missed the fifth deadline to notify the rules without which the law cannot be implemented. The Citizenship Amendment Act — through which the Modi government wants to grant Indian nationality to non-Muslim migrants from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan — was passed by Parliament on December 11, 2019, and the Presidential nod was received the very next day.
The MHA issued a notification stating that the Act came into force on January 10, 2020. According to the Manual on Parliamentary Work, ministries are to frame rules for the legislations within six months of passing an Act.
Since the MHA could not frame rules within six months of the enactment of the CAA, it sought time from the committees — first in June 2020 and then four more times. The fifth extension came ended Sunday.
More than 100 petitions have been filed in the Supreme Court challenging the law.