India's Supreme court refuses to stall citizenship law as Police patrol tense area in Indian capital

India's Supreme Court has refused to stall the implementation of the contentious Citizenship (Amendment) Act, which has triggered massive protests across the country.

The court sent a notice to the federal government, asking it to respond to nearly 60 petitions challenging the constitutional validity of the law.

The next hearing will be held on January 22, Reuters news agency said. The petitioners argue that religion cannot be the basis of granting citizenship to undocumented migrants. The new law, they say, is against the secular principles of India's constitution.

India's main opposition Congress party and the Asom Gana Parishad party, an ally of the ruling BJP in Assam state, are among those who have filed the petitions.

Police have carried out patrolling in New Delhi's Seelampur area after a protest held in the area over the citizenship law turned violent on Tuesday.

News agency ANI said the Delhi Police have imposed Section 144 of India's Code of Criminal Procedure in the capital's North East District. 

The section prohibits assembly of more than five people.

 The protests in the northeastern parts of India, are mainly against allowing any "foreign migrant" from Bangladesh - irrespective of religion - to settle in the region.

On December 15, more than 100 students were injured and dozens arrested after police stormed New Delhi's Jamia Millia Islamia (JMI) and Aligarh Muslim University (AMU), located 130km (81 miles) from the capital, to disperse the protests against the contentious law.

Since the attack, solidarity protests have also been held across the South Asian country.

In Muslim-populated areas of Delhi, buses and a police outpost were torched and tear gas filled streets as thousands of protesters hurled stones at police in Seelampur district.

Police said 21 people, including 12 policemen, were injured in the clashes, the Press Trust of India reported.

Thousands more rallied in Kolkata and Tamil Nadu states.

In the country's north, police said 113 people were detained for objectionable social media posts after violent demonstrations there.

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