The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights on Tuesday moved an intervention plea in the Supreme Court on the Citizenship (Amendment) Act.
According to reports, the OHCHR informed India's permanent UN mission in Geneva about the move on Monday.
Raveesh Kumar, the official spokesperson of the ministry of external affairs, responded to the UN body's move. He was quoted by Economic Times as saying, "The Citizenship (Amendment) Act is an internal matter of India and concerns the sovereign right of the Indian Parliament to make laws. We strongly believe that no foreign party has any locus standi on issues pertaining to India’s sovereignty."
"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 would be vindicated by the Honourable Supreme Court.”
Last week, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet had expressed concern about the Citizenship (Amendment) Act and the violence in Delhi.
After the act had been passed in December, the OHCHR had described the legislation as being "fundamentally discriminatory in nature”.
In a statement, OHCHR, noted, “The amended law would appear to undermine the commitment to equality before the law enshrined in India's constitution and India's obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Convention for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, to which Indian is a State party, which prohibit discrimination based on racial, ethnic or religious grounds.”
