The Supreme Court on Wednesday refused to pass a stay order on the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). A three-judge SC bench comprising Chief Justice of India (CJI) SA Bobde, Justice S Abdul Nazeer and Justice Sanjiv Khanna said today that it cannot grant any stay on CAA without hearing Centre.

The apex court also said that it will constitute a larger constitution bench to hear the matter.

The Centre has been granted four-week time to file affidavits regarding the petitions filed in the SC challenging the constitutional validity of the act.

Meanwhile, Senior advocate Vikas Singh, appearing for the Assam Advocates Association, sought an ex-parte-order regarding the implementation of the act in Assam. 

The apex court also ordered the petitioners to compile a list of all categories on which the law is to be challenged and submit it in the court.

The court further listed the matter for hearing after five weeks. Before finishing the hearing, it stated that no interim order will be passed on the law by the high courts. 

Raising the issue of NPR in court, senior advocate VK Viswanathan said it should be postponed because of the "doubtful" status it provides on one's citizenship.

Another advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi echoed Viswanathan's opinion, saying that several households in Uttar Pradesh have been marked out to hint at "doubtful" status.

"The situation in Assam is different, 40,000 people have already entered Assam since the last hearing," he said.

Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra, AIMIM leader Asaduddin Owaisi, RJD leader Manoj Jha, Muslim body Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind, All Assam Students Union (AASU), Peace Party, CPI, NGOs 'Rihai Manch' and Citizens Against Hate are among the several parties that have filed petitions challenging the constitutional validity of the Citizenship Amendment Act.

The new law promises citizenship to members of 6 non-Muslim communities from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh who entered India before December 31, 2014.

Massive protests have erupted across the country against the controversial law and the proposed National Register of Citizens (NRC). 

Critics say that the new law is against the secular nature of the Indian Constitution and clubbed with the NRC may be misused to strip away some Muslims' citizenship in the country. The BJP, however, has argued that the law has nothing to do with India's Muslims and only helps those who fled religious persecution in the neighbouring countries.