CAA petition in SC: Kerala Governor seeks report from LDF govt

: Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan has sought a report from the state government for moving the Supreme Court against the Citizenship Amendment Act without informing him.

The office of Raj Bhavan has sought the report from the Chief Secretary of the state.

"The Governor's office has sought a report from the Chief Secretary for not informing him about the state's move to approach the apex court against the CAA," a top source from Raj Bhavan told PTI on Sunday.

The LDF government had on January 13 moved the top court challenging the Act and had sought to declare it as ultra vires of the Constitution.

Attacking Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, Khan had earlier said the public affairs and the business of the government cannot be run in accordance with the "whims of an individual or a political party" and everyone has to respect the rules.

Kerala was the first state to pass a resolution in the state assembly against the CAA and to knock on the doors of the top court, challenging the new law.

The Governor, who has made his displeasure known public, had told reporters in Delhi that as per Rules of Business Section 34(2) sub section 5, the state government should inform the Governor on matters that affect the relations between the state and the Centre.

However, the state has maintained that it had not violated any rules and no deliberate attempts had been made to challenge the authority of the Governor's office.

Law Minister A K Balan had said on Saturday that the government would clear all apprehensions raised by Khan.

A day after CPI(M) mouthpiece Deshabhimani attacked the Governor in a hard hitting editorial, party state secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan on Sunday accused Khan of unnecessarily interfering in the day-to-day affairs of the government.

"The Governor is defaming a state government which was elected by the people of the state.

The post of Governor is not to defame the state government," he said in an article in the party newspaper.

Meanwhile, Khan, who was scheduled to attend a public function at Kozhikode on Sunday, cancelled it, citing security reasons.

The Governor was scheduled to attend a session at the Kerala Literary Festival (KLF).

"The organisers told us it would be difficult for them to follow the security protocol for the Governor as the KLF is a function which is being attended by thousands of people. They requested us to change the date,"Raj Bhavan sources said.

There were reports suggesting that the Governor cancelled the event, fearing protest from anti-CAA agitators, especially at a literary function.