Kerala govt moves Supreme Court challenging Citizenship Amendment Act

The Kerala government has moved the Supreme Court challenging the Citizenship Amendment Act and has sought to declare it as ultra vires the Constitution.

In a suit filed in the apex court, the Kerala government has sought to declare that the CAA 2019 is violative of Article 14 (Equality before law), 21 (Protection of life and personal liberty) and 25 (Freedom of conscience and free profession, practice, and propagation of religion) of the Constitution as well as violative of the basic principle of secularism enshrined in it.

It became the first state to do so amid nationwide protests against citizenship law. The apex court is already hearing over 60 petitions against the law.

In its petition, Kerala government calls the Citizenship Amendment Act a violation of several articles of the Indian constitution. It says the law goes against the basic principle of secularism in the constitution.

Left-led government in Kerala has also challenged the validity of changes made in 2015 to the Passport law and the Foreigners (Amendment) Order, regularising stay of non-Muslim migrants from Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan who had entered India before 2015.

The CAA was passed by Parliament on December 11.

According to the legislation, members of Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi and Christian communities who have come from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan till December 31, 2014 due to religious persecution will not be treated as illegal immigrants but given Indian citizenship.

There have been widespread protests against the Act in different parts of the country.

In UP, at least 19 persons were killed in anti-CAA protests.

The petition by Kerala government states that CAA violates Articles 14, 21 and 25 of the constitution.