The Supreme Court issued an interlocutory order on Sunday, instructing the authorities not to enforce the new amendments to the Citizenship Act.

A petition was filed against the Bill by senior advocates Surendra Bhandari and Balkrishna Neupane, stating that President Ram Chandra Paudel had endorsed the Citizenship Bill unconstitutionally.

A single bench of Justice Dr Manoj Kumar Sharma issued an order not to immediately implement the Act after the preliminary hearing on the case.

President Paudel had authenticated the Citizenship Amendment Bill on May 31 to amend the Citizenship Act, after the Bill had remained stalled for a long time due to controversy and opposition from several political parties.

The decision had cleared the way to provide citizenship for around 400,000 people waiting for Citizenship by Descent.