The Supreme Court on Wednesday decided to examine the constitutional validity of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act but refused to stay its operation.
The Act provides citizenship rights to certain class of refugees who have come to India from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan.
A bench comprising Chief Justice S A Bobde and justices B R Gavai and Surya Kant fixed the pleas, including those filed by the Indian Union Muslim League and Congress leader Jairam Ramesh, for hearing on January 22, next year.
The bench issued notice to the Centre on the batch of pleas seeking stay on the operation of the law as well as on the main petition challenging the constitutional validity of the controversial legislation.
