Citizenship (Amendment) Bill: Congress hints at moving Supreme Court

New Delhi, Dec 11: Several senior Congress leaders on Wednesday indicated that the party may move court against the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill passed by Parliament with Abhishek Singhvi saying that the legislation will be legally challenged in the near future as it is "highly suspect" in terms of constitutionality.

Soon after the bill was passed in Rajya Sabha, senior Congress leader and senior lawyer Kapil Sibal told PTI that the party should move court against it.

The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, which seeks to provide Indian citizenship to non-Muslim migrants from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan, was passed by Rajya Sabha on Wednesday. Lok Sabha cleared the Bill on Monday. Asked if the Congress will move the Supreme Court, Singhvi told PTI,

"It is certainly a legislation highly suspect in constitutionality in terms of basic structure and legal validity." "I have no doubt that it deserves to be challenged and will in the near future be challenged (in court)," said Singhvi, a Congress spokesperson and a senior lawyer.

Senior Congress leader and senior lawyer P Chidambaram also said that the bill was a "brazen assault" on the fundamental ideas enshrined in the Constitution and the fate of the law will be decided in the Supreme Court.

Another Congress leader Manish Tewari said that the bill was "unconstitutional" and is going to be challenged in the apex court.

Earlier in the day, asked if the Congress would approach the Supreme Court against the Bill if it is passed by Parliament, Congress general secretary (organisation) K C Venugopal said, "We will explore all possibilities."

Severely criticising the passage of the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill by Parliament, Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Wednesday said it marks a "dark day" in the constitutional history of India and is a "victory of narrow minded and bigoted forces" over the country's pluralism.