New Delhi, Dec 1 ( LatestNewsX ) — The Supreme Court sent notices to the Centre, the Election Commission of India and the West Bengal administration after a request for a provisional Special Interim Revision (SIR) was filed for Hindus, Buddhists and Christians who moved into the state from Bangladesh before 2014.
Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi of the bench reviewed the petition presented by the NGO Atmadeep, and asked the relevant authorities to respond. The case will be discussed again on December 9.
The petition argues that many of these migrants, who fled Bangladesh because of religious persecution, had applied for Indian citizenship before 2014 but have yet to see any progress or relief. Under the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA), minorities likely to have suffered persecution are eligible for Indian citizenship. The act covers Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians hailing from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan who entered India on or before 31 December 2014, and who were exempted under the Passport (Entry into India) Act 1920 or the Foreigners Act 1946. The 2019 amendment adds a section that lets these groups file for registration or naturalisation.
Several applications for naturalisation from eligible migrants are still pending because of administrative delays, the petition points out. It also notes that many others cannot yet apply for citizenship under Section 6B via the online system introduced by the Citizenship (Amendment Rules) 2024. The NGO highlights that many of these people have already lived in India for years and that their names are on the 2025 electoral rolls. To avoid disenfranchising them during the ongoing SIR, the petition requests that they be given provisional voter registration.
The plea asks the Supreme Court to issue directions that safeguard these applicants until their citizenship applications are finalized.
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