New Delhi, Feb. 20 -- The Supreme Court on Thursday fixed May 5, 2026 as the date to commence final hearing in the batch of petitions challenging the constitutional validity of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 (CAA) and the rules framed under it, setting the stage for what could be one of the most significant constitutional adjudications of the decade. A bench comprising Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant, and justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul M Pancholi, sought clarity from counsel on the time required for arguments before drawing up a structured hearing schedule. Recording that there are "two sets of cases assailing CAA 2019", the bench noted that the matters had earlier been categorised into two groups: Assam and Tripura cases, and those from the rest of the country. It directed nodal counsel to identify which petitions fall into which category within two weeks. The registry will then segregate them accordingly. The court ordered that the matters be listed "seriatim for final hearing in the week commencing May 5, 2026". Petitioners will be heard on May 5 (first half) and May 6 (first half), with respondents to follow on May 7, and rejoinder arguments scheduled for May 12. As many as 243 petitions have been filed since the law was passed by Parliament on December 11, 2019 and received Presidential assent the following day. The Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) was among the first to move the court. Over time, the litigation expanded to include Congress leader Jairam Ramesh, AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi, RJD MP Manoj Jha, TMC MP Mahua Moitra, the All Assam Students' Union, Tripura royal scion Pradyot Kishore Deb Barman, and several others. The law amends the Citizenship Act, 1955. It fast-tracks citizenship for Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan who entered India on or before December 31, 2014....