India’s state Kerala govt moves Supreme Court against the Citizenship Act

NEW DELHI, Jan 14, 2020, India Today. The Kerala government led by Pinarayi Vijayan has moved the Supreme Court against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) saying the amended law is against the provisions of Right to Equality granted by the Indian Constitution, India Today reported.

With this, Kerala government is the first state government to move the Supreme Court against the Citizenship Act, to which several states have raised objections. Kerala was also the first state assembly to move a resolution against CAA.

The LDF government of Kerala has challenged the Citizenship Act and also the Passport Act and Foreigners Act Rules.

In its petition, the Kerala government has said that the CAA should be declared violative of Articles 14, 21 and 25 of the Constitution and basic structure of secularism in India.

Article 14 promises Right to Equality to all while Article 21 says “No person shall be deprived of his life or personal liberty except according to a procedure established by law” and Article 25 says “all persons are equally entitled to freedom of conscience”.

Earlier this month Kerala assembly had passed a resolution demanding the repeal of Citizenship Act. The ruling LDF was supported by Congress-led Opposition alliance UDF.

Then CM Vijayan wrote to 11 non-BJP chief ministers asking them to take similar steps against the controversial law and pitching for unity to protect democracy and secularism.

Vijayan had written to the chief ministers, “People from various cross sections of the society irrespective of any difference they might have, need to stand united in preserving the basic tenets of our polity which form the cornerstone of Indian democracy.”