Citizenship Not State Subject, Only Parliament Mandated to Pass Law On It: Ravi Shankar Prasad on Kerala's Resolution to Scrap CAA
Jabbing Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan -- who accused the Centre of violating the spirit of Constitution by viewing citizenship through "communal" prism -- Prasad said the CM has been 'ill-advised' by the legal experts. Neither is the law aimed at targeting Indian minorities nor is the state assembly mandated to scrap it, Prasad added.
New Delhi, December 31: Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad struck back at the Kerala assembly for passing a resolution against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). The issue of granting citizenship or naturalising a refugee is a subject matter of the central government, and the states have no legal right to amend the rules related to the same, said Prasad while speaking to reporters in the national capital.
Jabbing Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan -- who accused the Centre of violating the spirit of Constitution by viewing citizenship through "communal" prism -- Prasad said the CM has been "ill-advised" by his legal experts. Neither is the law aimed at targeting Indian minorities nor is the state assembly mandated to scrap it, Prasad added. Thackeray Govt Must Take Cue From Kerala, Pass Resolution in Maharashtra Assembly Against CAA: Congress' Arif Naseem Khan.
"The Constitution has a mandate, Parliament - List 1, State Assemblies - List 2. I would again urge the Chief Minister (Kerala) to kindly have better legal advice," the Union Minister and senior BJP leader claimed, adding that the resolution passed by the Kerala assembly has no legal or constitutional worth.
"Citizenship, naturalization and aliens are entry 17 on the Union list. Therefore, it is only the parliament that has the power to pass any law with regards to citizenship, not any Assembly, including Kerala," Prasad added.
Update by ANI
Earlier in the day, the 140-member Kerala assembly passed a resolution to scrap the CAA and stay the NPR-NRC exercise in the state. A total of 138 legislators voted in favour of the resolution, whereas, one MLA - BJP's O Rajagopal - voted against the proposed law.
Among those who voted in favour of the resolution includes both - MLAs of the ruling CPI(M)-led Left Democratic Front along with the legislators of Congress-led United Democratic Front. Leader of Opposition Ramesh Chennithala also slammed Governor Arif Mohammad Khan for overseeing the state's apprehensions and lauding the Centre's CAA-NRC project.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Dec 31, 2019 04:39 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).