Image Courtesy:thehindu.com
The Home Ministry has sought an extension of time for framing the rules of the controversial Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), which was passed by the Parliament in 2019. CAA came into force on January 10, 2020.
During the ongoing monsoon session of the Parliament, a question was posed to Nityanand Rai, the Minister of State (Home Affairs), whether the Government is aware of missing the deadline to frame and notify CAA rules.
To this, Rai’s written answer read, “The Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 (CAA) has been notified on 12.12.2019 and has come into force w.e.f. 10.01.2020. The Committees on Subordinate Legislation, Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha have been requested to grant further extension of time upto 09.01.2022 to frame the rules under the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019.”
On February 9, 2021, Rai was faced with similar questions about CAA. In a written reply, he had stated that the Committees on Subordinate Legislation, of both houses had been granted extension of time to frame the rules. The Lok Sabha Committee had time until April 9, 2021 and the Rajya Sabha committee had been given time until July 9, 2021. This is reportedly the fifth extension sought by the Centre.
According to the Parliamentary Procedure Manual, Rule 11.3.1 states that Statutory rules, regulations and bye-laws should be framed within a period of six months from the date on which the relevant statute came into force.
The reason behind calling CAA controversial is that it seeks to grant citizenship to immigrants from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan, belonging to Hindu, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi, Christian, and Sikh communities, and only excludes Muslims. President’s assent to this amendment act was followed by widespread protests calling the new amendment anti-minority and discriminatory.
The answer may be read here:
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