The Governor of Kerala, Arif Mohammad Khan, has said that the resolution passed by the Kerala assembly against the newly amended Citizenship Act, has no ‘constitutional validity’.
“This resolution has no legal or constitutional validity because citizenship is exclusively a central subject, this actually means nothing”, said the Governor.
The Kerala Legislative Assembly passed a resolution against the Citizenship Act on December 31. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan himself placed the resolution, which was passed with just one member opposing it. The opposition front of Kerala UDF led by the Congress party also supported the resolution. The only member to oppose was BJP’s sole legislature of Kerala O Rajagopal. Rajagopal had contended the that the resolution was illegal, as both the Houses of Parliament had passed the Act. The CPI(M) led LDF government became the first in the country to pass a resolution against CAA.
The Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad had said on Wednesday that it is the state governments “constitutional duty” to implement the laws passed by Parliament.
Ravi Shankar Prasad had also said, “the states which say that they would not implement the amended citizenship law should seek appropriate legal opinion before taking such decisions.”
Till now, four state governments except Kerala, ruled by non-BJP parties— Punjab, West Bengal, Chhattisgarh, and Madhya Pradesh — have assured that they will not implement the Citizenship Amendment Act, 2019, saying “the ruling BJP at the Centre is undermining the secular and democratic foundations of the country”.
Amid protests across the country against CAA on Saturday Kerala Governor was forced to end his speech at the 80th Indian History Congress after several student delegates alleged that it was provocative, The Hindu had reported.
Arif Mohammad Khan had also alleged that eminent Historian Irfan Habib tried to heckle him and that Habib’s reaction was ‘undemocratic’.
Arif Mohammad Khan was sworn in as the 24th Governor of Kerala on September 6, 2019.