In the petition, the government stated that the act violates "Articles 14, 21, and 25 of the Constitution of India" and is violative of the basic structure principle of secularism as well.
A Supreme Court bench headed by Chief Justice of India S A Bobde, hearing a petition filed by lawyer Vineet Dhanda seeking stern legal action against those disturbing peace and harmony in the country in the name of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, said, "The country is going through a critical time, the endeavour must be to bring peace and such petitions do not help."
The SC issued notice to the Centre on the batch of pleas seeking stay on the operation of the law.
The Centre has imposed a ban on the Popular Front of India (PFI) and several of its associates for their alleged terror activities.
"It is a historic day. We are making history today," Law Minister said.
Rao exuded confidence that his party will win 90-plus seats in the 119-member assembly and will not take support from other parties.
Curtains came down on Tuesday evening on campaigning for 57 seats going to poll in the fifth and last phase of bitterly-fought Bihar assembly elections on November five, with acrimonious exchanges provoking showcause notices from the Election Commission to top leaders of rival alliances.
How he hopes to retain his fort is anyone's guess, says Nazarwala, the man who called right the 2007 and 2012 UP elections.
The future challenger to Narendra Modi would be somebody who can bring the Hindus and Muslims together again. The Hindus as Hindus, not broken caste groups, asserts Shekhar Gupta.
'Modi will not require the Ayodhya issue because he already has other emotive issues like Pakistan.' 'The BJP does not need the temple for political mobilisation anymore.'
The Congress accused the Centre of making a serious assault on the basic structure of the Constitution, saying the action subsumes the independence of the judiciary.
In run-up to the session, while over 4,000 people including MPs and staff have been tested for COVID-19, most parliamentary operations have been digitalized, entire premises sanitised and doors made touch-free.
The Mahagathbandhan, or grand alliance, on Saturday reached a consensus on seat distribution with the JD-U and the RJD to contest 101 seats each while Congress will put up candidates in 41 seats for the October-November Bihar assembly poll.
Caste composition is going to be a huge determinant for winning the constituency where Vokkaligas and Lingayats constitute a vast majority, which puts Siddaramaiah in a weaker turf given that he belongs to the Kuruba community.
The parties also said that the decision has come in late and had the Modi government shed its 'arrogance earlier' and repealed the laws opposed by farmers, a number of precious lives lost during the nearly year-long agitation could have been saved.
The delegation was told that the autonomy resolution passed by the Jammu and Kashmir assembly in 2000 should be implemented.
Winning an election may be a breeze for the BJP but the aftermath of victory isn't always painless.
AIMPLB member Zafaryab Jilani on Wednesday said the proposed mosque in Ayodhya following last year's Supreme Court verdict is against the Waqf Act and 'illegal' under the Shariat laws.
'I really wish I knew how to arouse love in the hearts of people, how to make them understand that religion comes later, first we are all humans.'
Sharing of dais with Narendra Modi in New Delhi and numerous other indications that N Chandrababu Naidu was fast heading towards renewed friendship with the Bharatiya Janata Party has left the Muslim leaders of Telugu Desam Party fuming with anger and frustration.
the PM said, "Hatred and violence have no place in diverse and democratic societies."
According to BJP insiders, every Union minister has been given 3-4 seats to mentor and has been told to work hard on these constituencies in the next 20 months to ensure the party's victory.
Rejecting the opposition's charge that the bill will weaken the act, the government said it was fully committed to transparency and autonomy of the institution.
The ruling coalition won 125 seats in the 243-member state assembly against 110 clinched by the opposition Grand Alliance to pave the way for a fourth successive term for Kumar in office.
Syed Firdaus Ashraf walks the streets of Mahim, where Yakub Memon grew up and lived till the day before the serial blasts in 1993, on the day Yakub was hanged and discovers an undercurrent of unease and restrained anger.
Asaduddin Owaisi opens up to T S Sudhir on his party's plans for the elections in Uttar Pradesh next year and why he thinks both the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Samajwadi Party have vitiated the secular atmosphere in the state.
'Kanhaiya Kumar, rising through subaltern rage and aspiration, may not triumph, not yet, but his ability to rise is tribute to democracy's finest hour,' says Saisuresh Sivaswamy.
'It is heartening to know that from Narendra Modi downwards every significant leader in the BJP is angry with the gushers of that nonsense about a 'Hindu Rashtra' or the questioning of Sania Mirza's credentials,' reveals Virendra Kapoor.
Taking a strong stand against the call by its ally Shiv Sena for the scrapping of Muslims' voting rights, the government today said such suggestions were not acceptable to it and that these "should not be discussed even hypothetically".
The hijab-row triggered protests in Karnataka spread across the state on Tuesday, with campuses witnessing 'conflict-like' situations marked by stone-pelting incidents, use of force by police and the Muslim girls standing their ground for wearing the headscarves, prompting calls for peace and calm both by the government and the high court, which is now looking into the students' plea for their right to their hijab.
Rama Rao's appointment was necessitated as Chandrasekhar Rao will have to concentrate on national politics and also focus on various developmental activities in the state, a release from the chief minister's office said.
UP CM said 'it does not matter who built it and for what reason; it was built by blood and sweat of Indian labourers'.
Whose political stock is likely to rise and which leader is most likely to make an impact in the coming year?
Owaisi said the CBI should appeal against the judgment "to protect its independence."
'The common Muslim of this country is not in favour of a review petition because he or she does not want that matters which have been settled are again raised and the community gets caught up in such things'
Left behind after elections will be the Biharis with their stagnant conditions of poor education, poor health infrastructure, poverty, unemployment, division of society and the aftermath of coronavirus. What will remain is the Bihari tenacity, observes Asmita Bihari.
Vellore is one of the two seats that the DMK alliance won by the narrowest of margins in 2019. For the DMK's vote-score to be so low in a constituency with a substantial Muslim population has not missed the BJP strategists' eyes, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
The court also observed that late Vishwa Hindu Parishad leader Ashok Singhal wanted to save the structure because Ram idols were inside.
While the assembly elections are being seen as largely a contest between the NDA and the Grand Alliance, the state has been witness to mushrooming of "morchas" (fronts) which may queer the pitch for the lead players in a tight contest.
'We have learnt lessons from Mamata Banerjee who overcame the BJP's canard by reciting Chandi Path and playing up her Brahmin origins in her campaign. We need to adopt strategies like asking Muslims to lie low and distributing tickets prudently so that we are not accused of favouring one community.' Radhika Ramaseshan reports.