U.N. rights body to move Supreme Court on Citizenship Amendment Act

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U.N. rights body to move Supreme Court on Citizenship Amendment Act

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1. The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCHR) Michelle Bachelet Jeria is set to file an intervention application in the Supreme Court over the Citizenship (Amendment) Act 2019, or CAA.
2. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said the United Nations body had no right to file a petition that will ask the court to appoint the Commissioner for Human Rights as an assistant or ‘amicus curiae’ in the case.
3. The OHCHR plan has been criticised by diplomatic and legal experts, including one of the 22 petitioners in the case, as an “overreach” by it.
4. Last week, Ms. Bachelet informed the Human Rights Council that the UN body had “great concerns over the CAA”. 
5. She had also met with MEA Secretary (West) Vikas Swarup, who had travelled to Geneva to represent India at the 43rd session of the Human Rights Council.
6. On March 2, the Indian Mission in Geneva was formally informed of the OHCHR’s plans to file the petition.
7. The UNHCHR application asks whether excluding people on the basis of their religion is “objective and reasonable".
8. It says the Indian government pointed out that Islam is the state religion in Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh, and as such people of Muslim faith are protected in these countries. Those whose citizenship India seeks to fast-track through the CAA are religious minorities in these countries. However, the research done by UNHCHR states that a number of other religious groups, such as Ahmadi, Hazara and Shia Muslims, are among Muslim minorities in these countries. Hence, they should also be given protection under the provisions of the CAA.
9. The Supreme Court would first have to decide whether the UNHCHR has the right to petition the court on this matter.
10. The US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) too appealed to the Trump administration for action. It had earlier asked the Trump administration to consider sanctions against India’s top leadership if the law was approved.
11. Former Solicitor-General Mohan Parasaran said that in his opinion, the U.N. official could not be impleaded on international law in a domestic matter.

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