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If CAA remains on statute book, there will be consequences if not obeyed: Salman Khurshid

A day before on Saturday, Senior advocate and Congress leader Kapil Sibal too said it would be "unconstitutional" for state governments to say they will not implement the new citizenship law.

maharashtra assembly elections results, haryana assembly elections results, congress, salman khurshid, congress performance in assembly elections Congress leader Salman Khurshid said there was a ‘very serious’ difference of opinion between the states and the Centre. (File)

A day after senior Congress leader Kapil Sibal said it would be “unconstitutional” for state governments if they don’t implement the Citizenship law, another Congress veteran and former Union minister Salman Khurshid also echoed his remarks. Khurshid said if the Supreme Court doesn’t interfere in the matter, the “CAA will remain on the statute book and there will be consequences if not obeyed”.

“If the Supreme Court doesn’t interfere it’ll remain on the statute book. If something’s on the statute book, you have to obey the law, else there are consequences,” ANI quoted Salman Khurshid as saying.

Underlining the “very serious” difference of opinion between the states and the Centre over the Citizenship Act, Khurshid said, “We would wait for final pronouncement made by SC. Ultimately SC will decide and till then everything said/done/not done is provisional and tentative.”

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The remarks by Khurshid come at a time when Congress-ruled state governments have vehemently opposed the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, with the Punjab Assembly even passing a resolution demanding its repeal.

The Punjab Assembly Friday passed a resolution demanding the repeal of the CAA and went beyond Kerala in seeking amendments to the forms/documentation associated with the National Population Register process. Chief Minister Amarinder Singh also announced that the state will approach the apex court on the issue.

Festive offer

On Saturday, Kapil Sibal too said if the CAA was passed, no state could stop its implementation. “It is not possible and is unconstitutional. You can oppose it, you can pass a resolution in the Assembly and ask the central government to withdraw it. But, constitutionally, saying that I won’t implement it is going to be problematic and going to create more difficulties,” Sibal said at the Kerala Literature Festival (KLF) in Kozhikode, according to a PTI report.

Even, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said state resolutions on CAA and NPR might not stand judicial scrutiny. “I know that the Kerala government has passed a resolution but it’s a political resolution. Whether it will stand the test of judicial scrutiny, I am not 100 per cent sure,” Ramesh told The Indian Express.

First uploaded on: 19-01-2020 at 09:31 IST
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