CAA Rules allow dual citizenship: pleas in SC
They argue that foreign applicants not having to renounce the citizenship of their native country while getting Indian citizenship will be directly violative of the Citizenship Act of 1955
The Rules of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act do not require foreign applicants to effectively renounce the citizenship of their native country, creating a possibility for dual citizenship which is directly violative of the Citizenship Act, petitioners have argued in the Supreme Court.
Written submissions filed by the petitioners ahead of the April 9 hearing of their plea to stay the CAA Rules said that Section 9 of the Citizenship Act of 1955 and Article 9 of the Constitution both clearly and explicitly prohibit the acquisition of dual citizenship.
The petitioners, led by the Indian Union Muslim League, represented by senior advocate Kapil Sibal and advocate Haris Beeran, said that the 2024 Rules are rife with defects, and have even overlooked the fact that “effective renunciation of citizenship was an important prerequisite for granting citizenship in cases where the nationality of another country is clearly attributable to the applicant”.
“Allowing dual citizenship, one of them being Indian, makes the Rules both “ultra vires and manifestly arbitrary”, they submitted.
The petitioners noted that a presumption of religious persecution is inherent in the CAA. The Union government views the law as a succour for refugees who fled persecution from the target countries with state religions.
But only a “selected group” of such migrants are eligible for the benefits of CAA, the petitioners said. Excluded refugee groups continue to remain illegal migrants, barred from seeking Indian citizenship under any mode.
The latest feat of the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) in Ladakh, connecting Himachal Pradesh and Leh through the NimmuPadamDarcha road, has come as a shot in the arm for security forces stationed in the region, and added significantly to India’s strategic depth in the hostile border neighbourhood.
The BRO’s breakthrough, achieved on March 27, has paved the way to open up the faroff Zanskar Valley for the safest ordnance depot, away from the prying eyes of China and Pakistan, officials privy to the development told The Hindu.
The NimmuPadamDarcha road allows surface movement from Leh to LahaulSpiti through the world’s highest tunnel at
Shinku La Pass at 16,580 feet, which is under construction.
“It will be the first allweather road connecting Ladakh to the rest of the country,” an official said.
The tunnel is likely to be completed by 2025. Maintaining logistics in the absence of allweather roads to the region, especially during Ladakh’s harsh winters, has always been a concern to security strategists. At present, security forces stock ration and ammunition months in advance to maintain a vigil on the borders. China, on the other hand, has already developed allweather road networks close to the Line of Actual Control (LAC).
The NimmuPadamDarcha road is just 298 km from Manali in Himachal Pradesh.