Sibal says problematic for States to oppose CAA if SC declares it 'constitutional'

Shortly after his statement that no State can refuse implementation of the amended Citizenship Act, senior Congress leader Kapil Sibal on Sunday said that it will be problematic to oppose the new legislation if the Supreme Court declares it "constitutional".

However, he emphasized that every State Assembly has the constitutional right to pass a resolution against the CAA and seek its withdrawal.

"I believe the CAA is unconstitutional. Every State Assembly has the constitutional right to pass a resolution and seek its withdrawal. When and if the law is declared to be constitutional by the Supreme Court then it will be problematic to oppose it/ The fight must go on!" Sibal tweeted.

 

Earlier, Congress Sibal, who is also a renowned lawyer, said that no State can say that it will not implement the Citizenship Amendment Act, as doing so will be unconstitutional.

"When you come to national politics, I think we all must stand together because this is a national legislation. So, we should not be scoring political points. You must know that if the CAA is passed, no State can say 'I will not implement it'. That's not possible. That is unconstitutional. You can oppose it. You can pass a resolution in the Assembly and ask the Central government to withdraw it (to say please withdraw it)," Sibal said on the sidelines of the Kerala Literature Festival on Saturday.

"But constitutionally to say that I will not implement it is going to be problematic and it is going to create more difficulty. So, what we need to do is politically get together, fight this battle and let the Congress party nationally lead the charge," he said.

Sibal further stated that "constitutionally, it will be difficult for any State government to say that 'I will not follow a law passed by Parliament'."

Sibal's remarks came after State Assemblies of Kerala and Punjab passed a resolution on CAA which grants citizenship to the non-Muslim refugees from Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh, who came to India on or before December 31, 2014. Several petitions have also been filed in the Supreme Court against the amended Citizenship law.