Former Lokayukta Justice Santhosh Hegde terms Citizenship Bill unreasonable

Citizenship Amendment Bill passage in the Lok Sabha on Monday irked several former judges and legal experts. After more than seven hours of heated debate on Monday, the Bill was passed by a division of votes with 311 in favour and 80 against it.

The Bill proposes amendments to the Citizenship Act of 1955 to provide citizenship to persecuted Hindus, Buddhists, Sikhs, Jains, Parsis and Christians from the Muslim-majority nations of Bangladesh, Afghanistan and Pakistan. If passed, it will grant citizenship to persecuted people from these communities, provided they have resided in India for six years. Former Lokayukta Justice Santhosh Hegde, however, was against it and said the government will be committing a big mistake if the bill is passed as it cannot differentiate the right to citizenship based on any religion.