UN files intervention plea on CAA

QUOTE: “India is a democratic country governed by the rule of law. We all have utmost respect for and full trust in our independent judiciary. We are confident that our sound and legally sustainable position will be vindicated by the Supreme Court.’’ — Raveesh Kumar, MEA

Advertisement

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, March 3

In an unprecedented move, the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCHR) has filed an intervention in the Supreme Court on the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA). New Delhi hit back by stating that no foreign party had any locus standi on issues pertaining to India’s sovereignty.

“India is clear that the CAA is constitutionally valid and complies with all requirements of its constitutional values,’’ said MEA spokesperson Raveesh Kumar while defending CAA as “reflective of our long-standing national commitment in respect of human rights issues arising from the tragedy of India’s Partition.’’

He said the country’s Permanent Mission in Geneva was informed on Monday evening by UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet that her office had filed an intervention application in the Supreme Court with respect to the 2019 Citizenship Amendment Act.

Bachelet, a two-term President of Chile who was tortured and her father killed by the military junta, has not taken kindly to state repression or discrimination since taking over from the Jordanian Prince Zeid Raad Al Hussein in August 2018. In September, in a rebuke of New Delhi’s unilateral lockdown of Kashmir, she had expressed deep concern about its impact on human rights, including restrictions on Internet communications and peaceful assembly, and the detention of local political leaders and activists.”

India had to deploy a battery of diplomats, including then Secretary (East) Vijay Thakur Singh, present High Commissioner to Canada Ajay Bisaria and Indian Ambassador to UN (Geneva) Rajiv K Chander, along with Mini Devi Kumam and Vimarsh Aryan to ensure there was no resolution against India on the day PM Modi was to land in the US for the “Howdy Modi” event.

In January, UN-appointed expert Tendayi Achiume had filed an application in the Supreme Court, seeking to join an ongoing hearing challenging the deportation of the Rohingyas. But she rather than join issues with the government, as Bachelet’s office has done, wanted to be amicus curiae on the issue of state’s obligations under international law.