Endeavour must be to bring peace, Supreme Court on nationwide CAA protests

At a time when the country is going through a critical phase, the endeavour must be to bring peace, Chief Justice of India SA Bobde said today with reference to the nationwide protests in relation to the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).

The comment from the Chief Justice came when Advocate Vineet Dhanda mentioned a petition filed by Puneet Kaur Dhanda which sought for stern action to be taken against those persons involved in spreading "misinformation" regarding the CAA

CJI Bobde, who is on the Bench with Justices BR Gavai and Surya Kant, said that petitions of this nature lead to causing more agitations and do not help in the endeavour to restore peace.

Dhanda's petition also prays for the CAA to be declared constitutional. On this point, CJI Bobde said that the presumption of constitutionality is always attached to a legislation passed by Parliament.

The Court agreed to hear the petition, noting that the matters will be heard as soon as the violence stops.

Among the other claims made in Dhanda's petition is that that the misinformation regarding the Act is being spread by political parties to create a sense of terror and concern in the minds of community belonging to Muslim people across the country.

Last month, the Supreme Court had issued notice in a batch of 60 petitions filed on the subject. These petitions are scheduled to be heard by the top Court on January 22.

Pleas concerning the introduction of the Citizenship Amendment Act and its fallout have been filed before various courts across the country - right from the Supreme Court to the lower courts.

Most recently, the Centre moved the Supreme Court seeking a transfer of all petitions challenging the validity of the Citizenship Amendment Act, 2019 (CAA) from various High Courts to the Apex Court.

Even as the matters remain pending before the courts, widespread protests continue to take place across the country.