Thiruvananthapuram. Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on Tuesday rejected the resolution passed in the Kerala Legislative Assembly against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), saying that the assembly of a state has no constitutional right to do so.
Prasad said in a press conference here that the Constitution of India entails the sharing of powers between the central government and the state government under which citizenship and related programs come under the jurisdiction of the central government. He said that citizenship is mentioned at 17th place in the subjects of the Union List of the Constitution.
The Union Minister said that only the Parliament of the country can make laws regarding citizenship. No state assembly has the right to do so. The same thing applies to the Kerala Legislative Assembly.
Reacting to the proceedings of the assembly, Ravi Shankar Prasad said that it is clearly written in the constitution which subjects come under the jurisdiction of Parliament and which state legislatures to make laws. He urged Chief Minister P. Vijayan to work in this regard on the basis of proper legal advice.
It is notable that the Kerala Legislative Assembly today passed a resolution against the Citizenship Amendment Act. Chief Minister P. Vijayan had moved a resolution in this regard which was passed by the House. The proposal calls for the repeal of the new law.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA O. Rajagopalan opposed this proposal, saying that both houses of Parliament passed new legislation. Therefore, it is illegal to put such a proposal in the assembly.
