Centre seeks extension till January 9 for framing CAA rules

This is the fifth extension sought by the government for framing of these rules

The Centre has sought yet another extension for framing rules of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), which was passed by Parliament in 2019.

The CAA was notified by the government on December 12, 2019 and came into force with effect from January 10, 2020.

However, the Centre is yet to frame the rules for the implementation of the Act that seeks to grant citizenship to religious minorities facing persecution in Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan who have entered India before December 31, 2014.

“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,” Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai told the Lok Sabha.

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This is the fifth extension sought by the government for framing of the 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 extension.

After the CAA was passed by Parliament, widespread protests were witnessed in different parts of the country leading to deaths of nearly 100 people in police firing and related violence.

According to the report of the Joint Committee of Parliament that vetted a previous version of the Bill, there were 31,313 people belonging to minority communities from these countries will be “immediate beneficiaries”, as they had been given Long Term Visas on the basis of their claim of religious persecution in their respective countries and want Indian citizenship.

Among 31,313, the Intelligence Bureau told the panel, 25,447 are Hindus, 5,807 are Sikhs, 55 Christians and two each Buddhists and Parsis.