CAA protests: Law cleared by parliament trumps states, says RS Prasad

New Delhi, Jan 01: Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad has asserted that the Citizenship Amendment Act was binding on the entire country and was perfectly legal and constitutional.

"It is only Parliament which has got the powers to pass any law with regard to citizenship; not any assembly, including the Kerala Assembly," he said.

"There is a Constitutional obligation on every state to exercise the executive power in such a way that ensures compliance with laws made by Parliament," he added.

However, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan rejected BJP's critisism against it, saying the state assemblies have their own privileges.

"State Assemblies have its own privileges. Such actions are unheard of anywhere. But we cannot rule out anything in the present circumstance as unprecedented things are happening now-a-days in the country," Vijayan told reporters here when asked about the breach of privilege proceedings.

The Assemblies have its own special protection and it should not be violated, he said.

Kerala becomes the first state to pass a resolution against a law which has been violating the fundamental principles of the Constitution.

To a question on PFI's role during violence in UP, the minister said that "Home Ministry will decide on further action based on evidence. There're many allegations against them including connection with Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI)."

The Uttar Pradesh Police has sought a ban on the Popular Front of India (PFI), days after its complicity was suspected in the recent statewide violent protests against the amended citizenship law.

UP DGP OP Singh said on Tuesday that they had written to the Union Home Ministry, seeking a ban on the PFI after its Uttar Pradesh head, Wasim, and 16 other activists were arrested for allegedly masterminding the violence in the state capital during anti-CAA protests.

Around 150 people were taken into preventive custody after the UP Police got intelligence inputs about the PFI "planning unrest" in Kairana and Kandhla towns of Shamli.

The PFI was formed in 2006 in Kerala as a successor to the National Democratic Front (NDF). Security agencies have alleged that its leaders have been groomed in the SIMI ideology.

with PTI inputs