Kerala will remain in forefront to defend Constitution: CM

A day after approaching the Supreme court seeking quashing of the Citizenship Amendment Act, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Tuesday said the state would remain in the forefront to defend the Constitution and Fundamental Rights of the Citizens.

The act of the southern state, which had earlier convened a special session of the assembly and passed an unanimous resoultion seeking repeal of the amendment, was an intervention from within the purview of the Constitution, Vijayan said.

Kerala is the first state to pass the resolution and file a petition against the CAA.

"The suit filed by the state government was against the Citizenship Amendment Act 2019, which is contradictory to constitutional ethos.

It is part of our intervention to protect civil rights from within the constitution," Vijayan wrote in his Facebook page.

He said secularism was the basic character of the Indian Constitution and deviating from it was equal to undermining the constitution.

"Kerala was the first state in the country to decide not to implement this faulty law. It was the Kerala Assembly that had passed a resolution against the CAA.

We have also requested other chief ministers, who uphold the constitution, to take such necessary steps," Vijayan said.

The CPI(M)-led LDF government had on Monday moved the apex court challenging the CAA and sought to declare it as 'ultra vires' of the Constitution was "violative" of Article 14 (Equality before law), 21 (Protection of life and personal liberty) and 25 (Freedom of conscience and free profession, practice, and propagation of religion) of the Constitution.

It also claimed that the law was violative of the basic principle of secularism enshrined in it.

The state Assembly had on December 31, 2019, passed an unanimous resolution against the CAA.

Earlier in the day, Industry minister E P Jayarajan told reporters that the state would continue its fight against the legislation.

"The state government will go to any extent and continue its fight against CAA. This Act destroys democracy in the country.

This will only help in implementing the RSS agenda, to drive the nation through a fascist regime, and destroying secularism and democracy in the country. The RSS and the Sangh Parivar cannot implement this law just by using muscle power," Jayarajan said.

Tourism minister Kadakampally Surendran tweeted that the state has become the first in the country to approach the top court against the Act.

"Kerala government files lawsuit against the unconstitutional CAA....Kerala leads the way," he said.