The Supreme Court on Thursday said it would hear petitions challenging the Citizenship Amendment Act only after the Holi vacation, Live Law reported. The top court will be closed for Holi from March 9 to March 15.

Senior counsel Kapil Sibal had mentioned the petitions before a bench led by Chief Justice of India SA Bobde, and sought an early hearing. Attorney General KK Venugopal told the court that the Centre would file its reply in the matter in two days.

The court then said it would hear the pleas after the “Sabarimala matter”, and told Sibal he could mention the matter again after the Holi vacation. A nine-judge bench has been hearing arguments on seven legal questions that stemmed from the matter of women not being allowed into Kerala’s Sabarimala temple. The bench will resume hearing the arguments on March 16.

On January 22, the Supreme Court had said it would not grant a stay on the amendments to the Citizenship Act without hearing the Centre, and had granted the government four weeks to file its reply to the petitions. The top court said that a larger five-judge bench will be constituted to hear matters related to the amended law.