The petition is filed by NGO minority Front contending that the CAA (Citizenship Amendment Act), NPR (National Population Register) and NRC (National Register of Indian Citizen). The petition was filed by Advocate Ejaz Maqbool and drawn by Advocates Akriti Chaubey, Kunwar Aditya Singh, Muhammad Isa M Hakin and Aishwarya Sarkar.
The petition stated that the CAA is violative of Articles 14, 15, 21, 25 and 51(a) and 51(c) of the Constitution of India. The petitioners have claimed that the act is arbitrary in light of the basic structure of the Constitution. The Act is unethical on the terms of secularism, the thread upon which our Constitution stands.
The petitioner also stated that the Act does not have an intelligible differentia and does not provide a reasonable classification as regards to the object which is stated in the Act. The objective of the Act is to protect minorities facing religious persecution in countries that have Islam as their state religion and were a part of undivided India.
The petition also asserted that the Act is violative of various international laws and obligations contained in Articles 2, 9, 10 and 26 of the ICCPR, Article 15 of the UDHR and principles of non-refoulement. The principle of non-refoulement prohibits the State from deporting refugees to their home country when there is an imminent threat to their life and personal liberties.
Section 3 of the Citizenship Act gives rise to three scenarios relating to children born on different dates:
Those children born between January 26, 1950, and before July 1, 1987, are entitled to Indian Citizenship without any condition. However:
- Those children born on or after July 1, 1987, and December 3, 2004, are citizens of India only of either of their parents are citizens of India at the time of their birth.
- Those children born after July 1, 1987, and before December 3, 2004, but none of their parents are citizens of India have no right of citizenship.
- Those children born after December 3, 2004, of that couple where one of them is a citizen of India and the other one is not an illegal migrant at the time of the birth of the child. Such children are a citizen by birth.
In light of the above contentions, it has been prayed that CAA and the notification for NPR be declared unconstitutional.