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During a recent hearing of the pleas challenging the validity of Citizenship Amendment Act, 2019 (CAA), before the Supreme Court, Senior Advocate Indira Jaising voiced apprehensions regarding the conferment of citizenship upon Hindus from Balochistan under the Act and its associated Citizenship (Amendment) Rules, 2024.

Jaising's primary concern revolved around the potential ramifications of granting citizenship, particularly concerning the right to vote.

Senior Advocate Ranjit Kumar, representing the Balochistan Hindu Panchayat, countered Jaising's arguments by asserting that granting citizenship to persecuted Hindus from Balochistan who entered India before December 2014 should not infringe upon the rights of others. He questioned, “how would it affect anybody else’s rights?”

Ms Jaising, representing a petitioner in the case, persisted in her argument, stating, “They will get the right to vote. That’s how it affects.”

Throughout the proceedings, Jaising urged the apex court to halt the granting of citizenship until the final adjudication of the matter or to stipulate that any citizenship granted would be contingent upon the outcome of the ongoing petitions challenging the CAA and its accompanying regulations. She emphasised the significant ramifications of citizenship once granted, highlighting the absence of provisions for easy termination under the existing legal framework.

However, despite her pleas and those of others, the court declined to issue any orders in response to the requests. The Chief Justice of India, while acknowledging the concerns raised about the deficient infrastructure, maintained that this could not be the sole basis for adjudication in the matter.

The Solicitor General, opting not to make any conclusive statements, signalled that no pronouncements regarding the grant of citizenship under the new regulations would be forthcoming at the present juncture.

The implementation of the CAA took a significant step forward with the notification of relevant rules on March 11, easing the process of granting citizenship to non-Muslim migrants from Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan who arrived in India before December 31, 2014.