The Supreme Court has issued an interim order not to immediately implement the Citizenship Bill, which was approved by President Ram Chandra Paudel.
The Supreme Court issued an order not to implement the bill that was passed by the previous Parliament and approved by President Paudel on the recommendation of the Council of Ministers.
Also, the Supreme Court has called both sides for a discussion.
On the recommendation of the Council of Ministers, President Paudel approved the Citizenship Bill on Wednesday.
Senior Advocate Surendra Bhandari filed a writ against the bill in the Supreme Court, seeking not to implement the citizenship bill claiming that it is illegal.
In the writ, it is also said that since the issue of citizenship is connected with nationality, a separate policy is needed for this.
The writ petitioners have also demanded that there should be a provision that Nepalis should not be deprived of citizenship while foreigners should be barred from obtaining it.
A meeting of the Council of Ministers on May 26 asked President Paudel to authenticate the bill, which had been gathering dust for the past one year at Sheetal Niwas.
Paudel certified the bill in accordance with Articles 61 and 66 of the Constitution.
This bill was stopped twice by then President Bidya Devi Bhandari.
But since the new Parliament came into existence, legal experts suggested that it should be brought from the President's Office to the Parliament to move it forward.
But President Paudel directly certified the bill in consultation with the legal experts.
The Attorney General's Office also opined that the President can certify the bill.
"The children of those who have acquired Nepali citizenship on the basis of birth before September 3, 2015, provided both father and mother are citizens of Nepal, their children will receive Nepali citizenship on the basis of descent after reaching the age of 16," reads the bill.
There has been strong criticism against the bill from the parliament and as well as from the streets. The opposition UML and other parties obstructed the parliament meeting on Sunday.
The opposition parties have demanded that the Citizenship Bill should be brought back to Parliament for discussions before ratification by the President.
