The Central Government has issued a notification to implement the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). With this, the Citizenship Amendment Act has now come into effect nationwide.
However, there is controversy regarding the implementation of this law in several states.
However, the Indian Constitution clearly states that no state can refuse to implement the CAA because it falls under the domain of the Union List, not the State List.
The Citizenship Amendment Bill was passed by both houses of Parliament in December 2019. Since then, there have been widespread protests across the country.
Under this law, persecuted Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Parsis, and Christians from Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh are provided with Indian citizenship.
However, the condition is that these individuals must have entered India before December 31, 2014.
The Chief Ministers of Kerala and West Bengal have stated that they will not allow the implementation of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) in their states.
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan issued a statement saying that the Centre's move to notify the provisions of the CAA before the elections is causing unrest in the country.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee also criticized the BJP government for the implementation of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, stating that it lacks clarity.
According to the Constitution, Indian states cannot refuse to implement the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) because it falls under the Union List, not the State List.
Article 246 of the Constitution categorizes legislative powers between the Parliament and State Legislatures. Former Secretary-General of the Lok Sabha, P.D.T. Acharya, told India Today that states have no option but to enforce the law passed by Parliament.
Regarding states' grievances, they can always approach the Supreme Court. If they feel that the rights of their citizens are being violated, they can approach the court.
