WEDNESDAY 4 MARCH 2020UN petitions legal action
against Indian government
Police clash with activists protesting against citizenship laws in Dehli (AFP)
ADAM WITHNALL
IN DELHI
The UN’s human rights chief has applied to petition India’s supreme court against the Modi
administration’s new citizenship laws that critics say discriminate against Muslims, in what is being
described as an unprecedented move.
Opposition MPs stalled proceedings in India’s parliament for a second day yesterday, demanding an urgent
debate on the bloodshed in Delhi last week that saw at least 46 people killed and more than 400 injured.
UN high commissioner for human rights Michelle Bachelet has informed India of her decision to file a brief
as an amicus curiae, or third-party “friend of the court”, over the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). The
court has already received more than 140 petitions questioning the constitutional validity of the new law.