Kerala Governor Says Assembly Resolution Against CAA Has No Legal Validity

Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan on Thursday called the resolution passed by the state assembly demanding withdrawal of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) as “unconstitutional ”. 

The state had no role because citizenship comes under the domain of the Central government, PTI quoted him as saying, “the resolution has no constitutional or legal validity.

The Kerala Assembly had passed a resolution against the CAA on Tuesday with Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan saying the implementation of the act will lead to religion-based discrimination in granting citizenship and it was against the secular values of the Constitution. 

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He added that the new law combined with the National Register of Citizens (NRC) was designed to turn members of the minority community into second class citizens, reported Hindustan Times .

O Rajagopal, the only Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA in the Assembly, was the sole member who had opposed the resolution and called it “unconstitutional”, according to The Indian Express . Treasury and Opposition benches heckled him when he attempted to defend the CAA.

Soon after the resolution was passed, Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said the states have a “constitutional duty ” of implementing the laws passed by Parliament. BJP MP GVL Narasimha Rao wrote to Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu, seeking breach of privilege and contempt proceedings against Vijayan. 

He also said that Vijayan should resign and say he does not have trust in the Constitution. “CAA is a central law passed by both Houses of Parliament. If you are passing a resolution against it that means you are making a mockery of the Indian Constitution through which you are the chief minister. In this case, Pinarayi Vijayan should resign from the (state) government and say I don’t have trust in the Constitution,” he was quoted as saying by ANI .

Vijayan has rejected BJP’s criticism, saying the state Assemblies have their own privileges. “State Assemblies have its own privileges. Such actions are unheard of anywhere. But we cannot rule out anything in the present circumstance as unprecedented things are happening now-a-days in the country,” PTI quoted him as saying.

(With PTI inputs)