'Political gimmick': Ex-Mizoram governor Kummanam Rajasekharan moves SC, seeks dismissal of Kerala govt's lawsuit against CAA

Kummanam Rajasekharan, former Mizoram governor and ex-Kerala BJP chief moved the Supreme Court on Friday seeking the dismissal of the Pinarayi Vijayan government’s lawsuit challenging validity of the Citizenship Amendment Act. Utkarsh Anand, legal editor of CNN-News18, reported that the application by Rajasekharan noted that there was no legal basis why the Kerala government challenged the validity of the CAA before the apex court. Labelling the Kerala government’s plea a “political gimmick”, Rajasekharan dismissed it saying there was no foundation that the law would affect the social and fundamental rights of the inhabitants of Kerala.

#NewsAlert | BJP’s K Rajasekhran seeks dismissal of Kerala govt suit. | @utkarsh_aanand with more details pic.twitter.com/QRsUuiFXEb

— News18 (@CNNnews18) January 17, 2020

“A decision has been taken to unnecessarily to spend public money on a suit which has no legal and sound basis. Therefore chief minister Vijayan along with the other Kerala cabinet ministers, who decided in favour of filing this suit, must be asked to pay the cost of the ligilation,” read the plea. The application also cited the statement made by Governor Arif Mohammed Khan that he wasn’t even consulted before the state government decided to move the Supreme Court. [caption id=“attachment_6359921” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan. ANI[/caption] Taking a potshot at the Vijayan government, the governor on Thursday had said  "common courtesy demanded that prior permission" should have been taken from him before the state decided to challenge the CAA in the top court. Khan stated that the state government’s move was a breach of protocol. “I’m not saying that what they did is wrong. They may have every right to approach the Supreme Court,” he said. “There is a legal maxim, neither I nor anyone is above the law. Clearly I am not against anyone approaching the judiciary. But, with me being the Constitutional head of the state, they (the state government) should have informed me about it, but I came to know through the newspapers. Some people here, think they are above law,” said Khan. Demanding the repeal of Citizenship Amendment Act, the Kerala government moved the Supreme Court on Tuesday , saying the amended law violated Articles 14, 21 and 25 of the Constitution and the basic structure of secularism in India. With this, Kerala becomes the first state to approach the apex court against the Citizenship Amendment Act, which has seen unprecedented protests all over the country. In its petition, the Kerala government has demanded that the CAA should be declared to be in violation of Articles 14, 21 and 25 of the Constitution.