Opposition disappointed with SC’s refusal to stay CAA, NPR exercise

The Opposition parties and those against CAA-NPR-NRC are disappointed at the Supreme Court’s refusal to stay the Citizenship (Amendment) Act and the National Population Register exercise.

The Congress said the apex court’s judgment will decide the path that the country takes from now onwards.

Congress spokesperson and a counsel for petitioners Abhishek Singhvi termed the occasion as historic.

Landmark litigation

“The nation stands at a threshold as the hearing on CAA 2019 goes on in the SC. The nation is looking towards the Supreme Court with intense optimism. The judgment would decide the path that the country takes from now onwards,” he said.

Senior advocate and Congress MP Kapil Sibal, who had also appeared for some petitioners, had pleaded the court refer the matter to a Constitution Bench. He also asked for a postponement of the NPR exercise by a couple of months and putting the operationalisation of CAA on hold.

Another voice against the CAA-NRC-NPR, leader of Swaraj party Yogendra Yadav said on Twitter that the Supreme Court is at best a reluctant warrior in the battle to defend the letter, spirit and soul of the Constitution.

“We the People of India must continue the movement to save the Constitution that we gave to ourselves,” he said. “Nothing wrong with the order. Nothing wrong in giving time to file reply. Nothing wrong in forming a constitutional bench or taking up interim relief after four weeks. But is this what you expect of a court tasked with defending the Constitution in the face of this onslaught?” he asked.

Senior CPI(M) leader and former MP S Ramachandran Pillai said in a statement that democracy and secularism are the basic principles of our Constitution.

“Any delay in taking a decision on matters connected with these basic principles will lead to injustice. In Jammu and Kashmir and in the matter of CAA, the issues that have been raised are connected with these basic principles of the Constitution. The Supreme Court should have taken an immediate decision. But it decided to delay the pronouncement of its decision. There is a criticism among the public that the Supreme Court is shifting its decisions on such important issues. This will result in a scenario where people will lose faith in judiciary. The country is going through a dangerous situation and people should raise their voice against this,” the senior leader said.

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