After Leading Protests & Passing Resolution Against It, Kerala Takes Anti-CAA Fight To The SC
The Kerala Government has moved the Supreme Court seeking to declare the recently passed Citizenship Amendment Act as unconstitutional.In the petition filed on Tuesday, the Kerala government argued that the CAA is in violation of Article 14, 21 and 25 of the Constitution.
Article 14 is about the right to equality, Article 21 says "no person will be deprived of life or personal liberty except according to a procedure established by law". Under Article 25, "all persons are equally entitled to freedom of conscience."?
Kerala is the first state to legally challenge the CAA which was passed by Parliament in December. There are already over 60 petitions in the Supreme Court against the law, which many say is discriminatory and against the spirit of the Indian Constitution.?The Supreme Court will hear the petitions on January 22.?
Earlier, Kerala had become one of the first states in the country to oppose the contentious legislation. Last month, the Kerala assembly had passed a unanimous resolution against CAA.?
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had also written to 11 other state chief ministers including Arvind Kejriwal and Mamata Banarjee urging them to pass similar resolutions.After Bengal, Kerala had also become the second state to order a stay on all the activities related to the National Population Register (NPR).?
Last week, the Kerala government had said that to ensure that Constitution studies be made an inevitable part of the curriculum, school and college students in the state will read the preamble to the Constitution during assemblies.
The CAA which aims to make it easier for religious minorities in three Muslim-majority countries, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh to get Indian citizenship was passed by the parliament in December.The move has seen unprecedented opposition in the country after it specifically omitted out Muslims from the purview of the act.?
However, the government and ruling BJP have been defending the act saying that the minority groups from the three countries have no other option but to come to India when they face religious persecution there.?
Meanwhile, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has said that a country-wide NRC was "needless" and had "no justification" but was open to a debate on issues that have created "turmoil", including the Citizenship (Amendment) Act.
Speaking in the state Legislative Assembly, the Bihar CM said his government agreed in principle to the National Population Register (NPR) like it did 10 years ago when the exercise was last undertaken.He also emphasised that caste names be included in the census when it is done.?
"It (the NRC) would be needless (koi zarurat hai nahin) and have no justification (koi auchitya nahin). And I think the Prime Minister, too, has spoken clearly on this," he told the House while thanking it for unanimously ratifying the Constitution amendment for extending quotas for SCs and STs in Parliament and state assemblies by another 10 years.?
Despite the ongoing nationwide protests against the CAA, the act which got the president's nod on December 13 came into force from January 10."In exercise of the powers conferred by sub-section (2) of the section 1 of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 (47 of 2019), the Central government hereby appoints the 10th day of January, 2020, as the date on which the provisions of the said Act shall come into force," the gazette notification said.
