Denial Of CAA Implementation By States Would Be ‘Unconstitutional’: Congress Leader Kapil Sibal

Congress leader Kapil Sibal on Saturday said there is no way a state can deny the implementation of Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) when it is already passed by the parliament. He added that denial of the legislation would be “unconstitutional”. “If the CAA is passed no state can say ‘I will not implement it’. It is not possible and is unconstitutional. You can oppose it, you can pass a resolution in the Assembly and ask the central government to withdraw it,” Kapil Sibal, who was addressing Kerala Literature Festival (KLF) said.

#WATCH Senior Congress leader Kapil Sibal in Kozhikode, Kerala: Constitutionally, it will be difficult for any state government to say that 'I will not follow a law passed by Parliament'. #CitizenshipAmendmentAct pic.twitter.com/tNeSt5h0e5

— ANI (@ANI) January 18, 2020

"But constitutionally saying that I won’t implement it is going to be problematic and going to create more difficulties", Sibal added.

After the passage of the contentious legislation, Kerala became the first first state government to challenge the act and the Kerala Assembly was the first to pass a resolution against the law.

Earlier, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan penned a letter to 11 non-BJP chief ministers citing the resolution passed by the state demanding scrapping of the amended Citizenship Act and asking them to take similar steps against the contentious legislation.

Along with Kerala, several states like Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal and Maharashtra have also voiced their opposition against the law as well as National Register of Citizens (NRC) and National Population Register (NPR). On Friday, the Punjab Assembly also passed a resolution demanding to scrap the contentious law.

Also Read: Citizenship Amendment Bill: India's Muslim Not Afraid Of You, Kapil Sibal To Amit Shah In Rajya Sabha

Sibal explained what do states mean when they say, “they won’t implement it”, adding, "So what is being said is that we would not allow a state level officer to cooperate with the Union of India. That is what is being said, practically if this is possible or not I am not sure. But constitutionally it would be very difficult for the state govt to say that I will not follow a law passed by the Parliament."

Also Read: ‘Don't Want To See Rest Of Film’: Kapil Sibal’s Dig At PM Modi Over 'Trailer' Remark

The theme of the four-day long Kerala Literature Festival 2020 is environment and climate change.

Historians such as Ramachandra Guha, William Dalrymple, novelists like Benyamin, Namita Gokhale, Chetan Bhagat and journalists Karan Thapar and Rajdeep Sardesai are among the many other writers who will be attending the four-day festival.

(With PTI inputs)