Congress on Tuesday claimed that the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill was "patently unconstitutional" and said that after its passage in Parliament, the battleground will shift to the Supreme Court.
Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram, who is out on bail in connection with the INX Media money laundering case, said that by approving the Bill in Parliament, the elected lawmakers were abdicating their responsibilities in favour of lawyers and judges.
"CAB is unconstitutional. Parliament passes a Bill that is patently unconstitutional and the battleground shifts to the Supreme Court. Elected Parliamentarians are abdicating their responsibilities in favour of lawyers and judges," Chidambaram said.
The CAB, that seeks to grant Indian citizenship to persecuted minorities from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh, was passed in the Lok Sabha with an overwhelming majority with 311 members voting in favour and 80 voting against it.
"That is the price we pay for giving a party a brute majority that it uses to trample over the wishes of the States and the People," the former Home Minister said.
The Bill is expected to come up for consideration of the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday.
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