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‘No legal validity’: Kerala governor on assembly resolution against citizenship law
On Tuesday, Kerala became the first state in the country to pass a resolution against changes to the citizenship law and the National Population Register
Kerala governor Arif Mohammed Khan on Thursday said the resolution passed by the state assembly demanding scrapping of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) did not have constitutional or legal validity.
“The resolution has no constitutional or legal validity,” he said while talking to media persons in Thiruvananthapuram, adding that the state had no role as “citizenship comes under the domain of the central government”.
“Citizenship comes exclusively in the domain of the central government. The state government has no role. So, why are these people engaged in something which is a non-issue for Kerala?,” he was quoted as saying by news agency PTI.
He also criticised the Indian History Congress, held in Kannur, where protests were raised against him for his remarks on the CAA.
Khan said the History Congress has claimed that it has made some recommendations to the state government, including not to cooperate with the Centre.
The recommendations are “totally illegal” and have “criminal content”, he said.
On Tuesday, Kerala became the first state in the country to pass a resolution against changes to the citizenship law and the National Population Register. “The Centre should come off its parochial and sectarian outlook and treat everyone equally,” chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan said after the assembly voted 138:1 in favour of the resolution.
The resolution was criticised by the Bharatiya Janata Party with the Union law minister and senior party leader Ravi Shankar Prasad hitting out at the Kerala government. He said that state governments have the “constitutional duty” of implementing the laws passed by Parliament. He also said chief minister Vijayan should seek “better legal advise”.
However, CM Vijayan said the state assemblies have their own privileges.
Protests against the CAA have intensified over the past fortnight, often turning violent. Opposition parties including the Congress, Trinamool Congress and the Samajwadi Party have also criticised the amended law.
The Citizenship Amendment Bill, passed by Parliament on December 11, 2019, is aimed at fast-tracking the grant of Indian citizenship to members of religious minorities from the Muslim-majority countries of Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan.
(With inputs from PTI)
