‘Respect Sovereign Processes’: Om Birla To EU Parliament President Over Resolutions Against CAA

Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Monday wrote to European Parliament President David Maria Sassoli over the resolutions moved against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) in that legislature, saying it is inappropriate for one legislature to pass judgement on another and the practice can be misused by vested interests.

The speaker's letter to Sassoli comes after close to 600 lawmakers in the 751-member European Parliament moved six resolutions against the CAA, saying the enactment of the law marked a dangerous shift in India's citizenship regime.

"I understand that Joint Motion for Resolution has been introduced in the European Parliament on the Indian Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019. This act provides for easier citizenship to those who have been subjected to religious persecution in our immediate neighbourhood," Birla said in the letter.

"As members of Inter Parliamentary Union, we should respect sovereign processes of fellow legislatures, especially in democracies," he said.

It is inappropriate for one legislature to pass judgement on another, a practice that can surely be misused by vested interests, Birla said.

"I would urge you to consider the proposed resolution in this light, confident that none of us want to set an unhealthy precedent," he said.