THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Kerala will move the Supreme Court once again seeking to cancel the Citizenship Amendment Act.
The state government is of the view that the new amendment violates Articles 14 (Equality before law), 21 (Protection of life and personal liberty) and 25 (Freedom of conscience) of the Indian Constitution. The state will seek a directive from the apex court to the Centre to cancel the notification.
The state government took the decision on Wednesday in the wake of the Centre issuing the CAA notification on Monday. The state cabinet which met here on Wednesday decided to continue with legal action against the Citizenship Act.
The cabinet entrusted the Advocate General to take follow up steps in this regard. The Advocate General is currently in Delhi. The government directed the AG to hold discussions with Constitutional experts and take adequate steps in this regard.
Kerala was the first state to challenge the Citizenship (Amendment) Act 2019. In August 2020, the state moved the Supreme Court with an original suit under Article 131 of the Constitution which empowers the top court to hear disputes between the Centre and one or more states.
The Centre on Monday notified the rules for implementation of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) 2019. This will now pave the way for granting Indian citizenship to undocumented migrants from minority communities in Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan, according to the notification.
With the rules being notified under the CAA, the government will now start granting Indian citizenship to persecuted Hindu, Sikh, Christian, Buddhist, Jain and Parsi migrants from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan who have come to India on or before December 31, 2014.
In the notification, the Home Ministry said, “These rules, called the Citizenship (Amendment) Rules, 2024 will enable the persons eligible under CAA-2019 to apply for the grant of Indian citizenship. The applications will be submitted in a completely online mode for which a web portal has been provided.”
