Former Kerala president of the BJP and former Governor of Mizoram Kummanam Rajasekharan has moved the Supreme Court challenging the Kerala government’s petition which is against the constitutional validity of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA).
Rajasekharan has sought permission to be impleaded into the petition against CAA in support of the Union government law. The second applicant in Rajasekharan’s plea is one Ajikumar, who is a social worker, as per the details of the application.
The CAA aims to provide citizenship to those from the Hindu, Sikh, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christian communities from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan fleeing persecution on the basis of their religion. The Kerala government has argued that CAA is discriminatory for excluding migrants from the countries which India shares borders with like Sri Lanka, Myanmar and Bhutan, and to which and from which there has been trans-border migrants.
However, Rajasekharan’s plea argues that with Buddhism being the state religion in Sri Lanka and Bhutan, the religious minorities there are Hindus, Christian and Muslims. It adds that it is not explained by the Kerala government if these minorities are facing prosecution.
“The case of the plaintiff is that the above said minorities are excluded in the impugned Act and therefore it is discriminatory in nature. Though such a contention is made it is not explained how and whether the above said minorities are facing religious persecution in those countries," the plea reads.
Further, the plea argues that there is no basis to say that the CAA will affect the social and fundamental rights of the residents of Kerala.
“A decision has been taken to unnecessarily to spend public money on a suit which has no legal and sound basis. Therefore, Chief Minister Vijayan along with the other Kerala cabinet ministers, who decided in favour of filing this suit, must be asked to pay the cost of the litigation," the plea says.
The plea also seeks to pass an order realising the cost incurred by the State of Kerala in filing this suit from the ministers of the Kerala cabinet, including Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan.
Rajasekharan emphasized that even the Governor of the state was not consulted before public funds were unnecessarily used for this litigation.
Rajasekharan seeks impleadment in the suit, and insisted that the matter is only a political dispute and no rights of any inhabitants of Kerala were violated.
Kerala was the first state to move the SC against CAA calling it discriminatory and a colourable legislation.
(With inputs from IANS)