Citizenship Amendment Bill becomes act after getting President Kovind's assent

President Ram Nath Kovind gave his assent to the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2019 on Thursday, becoming an act of the constitution. The contentious bill was passed in Rajya Sabha on Wednesday, two days after it was passed in Lok Sabha on Monday.

The Act comes into effect with its publication in the official gazette on Thursday.

The Citizenship Amendment Bill, 2019, was passed in the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday with a 125-105 vote share, two days after it was passed in the Lok Sabha following a 12-hour long debate.

125 votes fell in favour of the Bill, while 105 votes were against it. The controversial Citizenship Amendment Bill was tabled in the Rajya Sabha by Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday, day after the bill was passed in the Lok Sabha on Monday midnight. 

The Bill aims to provide for Indian citizenship to the Hindus, Jains, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists and Parsis from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan after six years of residence in India instead of the current mandatory stay of 11 years even if they do not possess any document.

However, on Thursday, the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) filed a writ petition against the bill in the Supreme Court on Thursday.

Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal will represent Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) in Supreme Court.

In its petition, the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) has pleaded the SC to declare Citizenship Amendment Bill 2019 as illegal and void.