In a written reply to the Parliament, Nityanand Rai, the Minister of State for Home, has informed that it has sought an extension of over six months for framing rules under the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019.
The Ministry said that it has requested both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha Committees on Subordinate Legislation to grant further extension of time upto January 9, 2022, to frame the Citizenship law rules.
To a question raised by Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi, MoS Rai has submitted a written reply, informing the Citizenship (Amendment) Act has been notified on December 12, 2019, and has come into force from January 10, 2020.
“The Committees on Subordinate Legislation, Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha have been requested to grant further extension of time up to January 9, 2022, to frame the rules under the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019,” Rai further said.
This is the fifth extension sought by the Centre for framing the CAA rules.
According to the Manual on Parliamentary Work, the rules for any legislation should have been framed within six months of presidential assent or seek an extension.
What is CAA?
The Citizenship law allows persecuted minorities belonging to the Hindu, Sikh, Jain, Buddhist, Parsi, and Christian communities from Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan to avail of Indian citizenship.
According to the provisions of the act, those belonging to these communities who arrived in India till December 31, 2014, due to religious persecution in these three countries will not be treated as illegal migrants but will be provided with Indian citizenship.
If a person belongs to the aforementioned faiths, from these three countries, does not have proof of birth of parents, they can apply for Indian citizenship after six years of residence in India.
President Ram Nath Kovind gave his assent to the legislation on December 12, 2019.
After the Citizenship law was passed by Parliament, widespread protests were witnessed in different parts of India leading to the deaths of around 100 people in police firing and related violence.
CAA’s detractors believe that the law coupled with the National Register of Citizens (NRC) exercise is intended to target the minorities in the country.
This story first appeared on livemint.com