Discussion on the Citizenship (Amendment) Act 2019 and Discrimination Law
Speakers: Prof. Mohsin Alam Bhat, Associate Professor, Executive Director, Centre for Public Interest Law, Jindal Global Law School, O.P. Jindal Global University; and Ms Thulasi K. Raj, Advocate, Supreme Court of India & Kerala High Court and Visiting Fellow, Melbourne Law School, Australia

Moderator: Shri Lalit Panda, Senior Research Fellow (Charkha), Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy

The Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 (“CAA”) has been a lightning rod of controversy, drawing out starkly different public views about the law’s legitimacy. Conspicuously, discussions on the subject have heavily relied on the language of the Constitution and its promise of equality, non-discrimination, and secularism, However, there is much about the constitutional guarantee of equality that needs clarification before it can be meaningfully applied in the case of the CAA. This is especially so in the case of discrimination law, a field of law that protects individuals and groups against discrimination on the basis of characteristics like race, religion, sex and caste.

A new year-long series of monthly conversations jointly curated and presented with Charkha, the Constitutional Law Research Centre, Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy. The conversations have been envisaged to spark thoughtful, nuanced discussions on some of the most significant constitutional challenges of our times. The conversations will focus on three broad themes – understanding Indian democracy, unpacking Indian federalism, and unearthing civil liberties