Cong leader Kapil Sibal on CAA: Constitutionally states cannot refuse to implement law

New Delhi: Just days after the Kerala government moved the Supreme Court against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), senior Congress leader Kapil Sibal claimed that it will be difficult for states to not implement the CAA since now it has become law. Sibal added that states cannot say "I will not implement it" as it is "unconstitutional".

Explaining further, he said CAA can be opposed, resolutions can be passed in the Assembly and central government can be asked to withdraw it. The former lawmaker was speaking at the Kerala Literature Festival (KLF) in Kozhikode on Saturday (January 18). 

In a short clip shared by news agency ANI, he is heard saying, “…The NRC is based on the NPR, and the NPR is to be implemented by the local registrar. Now the local registrar has to be appointed at the level of the community in which that enumeration is to take place and those have to be the state-level officers. So what is being said is that we would not allow a state-level officer to cooperate with the Union of India. That is what is being said, practically if this is possible or not I am not sure. But constitutionally it would be very difficult for the state govt to say that I will not follow a law passed by the Parliament."

The Pinarayi Vijayan-led government in Kerala moved the Supreme Court on Tuesday (January 14) against the CAA saying the amended law is against the provisions of Right to Equality granted by the Indian Constitution. The petition filed under Article 131, seeks that the CAA be declared violative of Articles 14, 21 and 25 of the Constitution and the basic structure of secularism in India.

Though several state governments including Kerala, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal and Maharashtra have voiced their dissent against implementing CAA, Kerala is the first to move the apex court against the Citizenship Act. It was also the first state assembly to move a resolution against CAA. Following close to the heels of Kerala, the Punjab Assembly too passed a resolution against the controversial law.

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Meanwhile, Union Home Minister Amit Shah in Hubli today castigated the opposition parties claiming that they were indulging in vote bank politics. He said, "Congress and Rahul Gandhi are trying to create confusion, there is no clause in CAA that takes away the citizenship of Muslims."

Speaking about the anti-CAA protests in the country he said "People have been on the roads and collided with the police as well. Rahul Gandhi, Arvind Kejriwal, Mamata Banerjee, Communists, SP, BSP is responsible for this."

Shah blamed the Congress for dividing the country and for not taking appropriate action against terrorism. He said, "If Pakistan's terrorists come to India and kill our jawans and people, should we not teach them a lesson? The Congress government ruled for 10 years but was no action taken as terrorism prevailed and our jawans died."

He praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi for taking affirmative action against terrorists. "PM Modi, as soon as he came to power, attacks in Uri and Pulwama happened. In 10 days, surgical strikes were done by India to defeat terrorism," he said.

The CAA grants citizenship to Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Parsis, Buddhists and Christians fleeing religious persecution from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh and who came to India on or before December 31, 2014.

Protests against the Citizenship law have rocked several parts of the country with demonstrations getting violent in many places.