Rules for Citizenship Amendment Act still under preparation, says Ministry of Home Affairs

The Ministry of Home Affairs has said that rules for the Citizenship Amendment Act, which was passed in December 2019, are still under preparation, The Hindu reported on Wednesday.

It was responding to a RTI query filed by the newspaper asking for the status of the framing of rules for the Act, said a report carried by The Scroll.

“It is to inform that the rules under the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 are under preparation,” Director (Citizenship) Foreigners Division BC Joshi said in the RTI response.

Joshi added that his office had not sent any letter related to the CAA to the Parliamentary Committee on Subordinate Legislation in August.

In July, The Hindu had reported that the home ministry was yet to inform the Parliament about the delay in framing rules related to the CAA. This must be done in case the rules are not framed within six months of the Parliament passing the legislation.

After the newspaper’s report, the ministry sought a three-month extension from the Parliamentary committee. The extension expired in November and it is unclear if the ministry asked for another.