Supreme Court to hear pleas challenging CAA on March 19

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Centre, said there were 237 petitions and in those pending ones, four interim applications have been filed against the implementation of the rule. Mehta argued that petitioners can claim no authority over the grant of citizenship as the power lies exclusively with the Centre.

The applications were filed after the Centre implemented the CAA by notifying the rules four years after it was passed by Parliament to fast-track citizenship for undocumented non-Muslim migrants from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan who came to India before December 31, 2014. The application, filed by the IUML, which is one of the petitioners who have challenged the citizenship law, has sought the court's direction to ensure no coercive action is taken against people belonging to the Muslim community pending adjudication of the writ petitions. Muslims cannot apply for Indian citizenship under the CAA.