Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has been granted extension for the sixth time from the Parliamentary Committees on Subordinate Legislation in the Rajya Sabha and the Lok Sabha to frame the rules for the controversial Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA), 2019, said sources.
The Parliamentary Committees gave their nod another time to extend rules for the CAA taking cognizance of a request made by the MHA earlier this month. A senior government official told ANI that “it is confirmed that the extension to frame CAA rules has been granted by the Parliamentary Committees”.
Asked whether the extension has been granted for three months or six months, the official, said: “a written order copy is still awaited, but it is communicated that the extension is allowed by both the Parliamentary Committees”.
The rules are essential for the implementation of the CAA. The committee’s chairman in the Lok Sabha, YSR Congres party’s Balashowry Vallabbhaneni, told ANI that “when due date is over, the MHA generally sends a request for further extension of more time to frame CAA rules”.
“As I am in Hyderabad, I don’t know what exactly happened… Generally, MHA is granted an extension in time when it seeks a request in this regard. It is not an issue. But exactly, I don’t know.”
The Chairman of the Subordinate Legislation Committee in Rajya Sabha Partap Singh Bajwa, who is also outside Delhi, was contacted to confirm but he could not be reached.
The Citizenship Amendment Act was passed by Parliament on December 11, 2019, and the Presidential approval came the next day. In January 2020, the Ministry notified that the Act will come into force from January 10, 2020, but it later requested from the Parliamentary Committees in the Rajya Sabha and the Lok Sabha to give it some more time to implement rules as the country was going through its worst-ever health crisis due to Covid-19 pandemic.
(ANI)
