CAA Row: Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan Says 'Citizenship Amendment Act Have to be Implemented by States Under Article 254'

Thiruvananthapuram, January 18: Kerala Governor Arif Mohammad Khan on Saturday said the amended citizenship law was the subject of the central list and not a state subject and therefore it will have to be implemented. "There is no way other than implementing the act. It will have to be implemented under (Article) 254," the governor told reporters in response to a question on some states refusing to implement the new law.

He said everyone should understand "one's own jurisdiction". "You may give your arguments by using your intellect, you have the right to challenge it in the Supreme Court but citizenship act is the subject of Union List and not a state subject," he said after addressing a programme at a private university in Jaipur.

Mr Khan said people can be adamant about their opinion but cannot go beyond the boundary of law. The Kerala government earlier this week moved the Supreme Court against the Citizenship Amendment Act, seeking to declare it violative of the principles of equality, freedom and secularism enshrined in the Constitution. CAA Row: 'States Cannot Deny Implementation of Citizenship Amendment Act', Says Congress Leader Kapil Sibal.

On Friday, Mr Khan criticised the Left government for approaching the top court against the CAA without informing him and said he may seek a report from it about the move. There have been protests against the amended law, and some of them turned violent last month. Some opposition parties too have opposed it, saying the law is discriminatory.

Weighing on the protests, the Kerala governor said it was not the first time protests were happening in the country.  "A bigger protest happened in 1986 when a Supreme Court judgment was reversed," he said, without elaborating the verdict he was referring to.