Anti-CAA protests led by women in Manipur in 2019 Getty Images

While the Supreme Court yesterday fixed the date of the hearing of petitions challenging the Citizenship Amendment Act, 2019 on December 6; the centre decided to grant Indian citizenship to Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis, and Christians coming from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan and currently living in two districts of Gujarat under the Citizenship Act, 1955.

The move of the centre is not according to the CAA as the rules for the act have not yet been framed; rather it follows the Citizenship Act of 1955 provision of Citizenship rule, 2009 bears significance.

Notably, the CAA also provides for granting Indian citizenship to Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis, and Christians coming from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan.

The notification of the Union Home Ministry mentioned that the Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis, and Christians residing in the districts of Anand and Mehsana in Gujarat will be allowed registration as a citizen of India under section 5 or will be granted certificate of naturalisation under section 6 of the Citizenship Act, 1955 and in accordance with the provisions of the Citizenship Rules, 2009.

This story was originally published in outlookindia.com . Read the full story here