{"id":54297,"date":"2020-01-16T16:31:00","date_gmt":"2020-01-16T11:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogadmin.forumias.com\/?p=54297"},"modified":"2020-02-26T16:34:32","modified_gmt":"2020-02-26T11:04:32","slug":"7-pm-will-strained-centre-state-ties-make-2020-a-year-of-constitutional-crises16th-january-2020","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/7-pm-will-strained-centre-state-ties-make-2020-a-year-of-constitutional-crises16th-january-2020\/","title":{"rendered":"7 PM |Will strained Centre-state ties make 2020 a year of Constitutional crises?|16th January 2020"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Context:\n<\/strong>Centre-State\nrelations and the recent move by Kerala government against CAA.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>More\nin News:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>The state of Kerala has approached the\nSupreme Court challenging the Citizenship Amendment Act, 2019 thereby becoming\nthe first State to challenge the contentious law made by the central\ngovernment.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>The\npetition:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Kerala filed a plea as an original suit\nunder provisions of Right to Equality granted by the Indian Constitution.<\/li><li>The petition states that CAA violates\nRight to equality under Article 14 of the Constitution of India, right to life\nunder Article 21 and freedom to practise religion under Article 25. <\/li><li>The original suit has been filed under\nArticle 131 of the Constitution which empowers the Supreme Court to hear\ndisputes between the States or the Government of India and States.<\/li><li>The state government has also challenged\nthe changes made in the Passport Act and Foreigners Act Rules.<\/li><li>The petitioner has claimed that the amendments\nto the passport rules and the foreign order results in classifications based on\nreligion and that the classification is \u201capparently and manifestly\ndiscriminatory, arbitrary, unreasonable and having no rational nexus with the\nobject sought to be achieved&#8221;.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"622\" height=\"376\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogadmin.forumias.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/1-4.jpg?resize=622%2C376&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"https:\/\/static.toiimg.com\/photo\/imgsize-150854,msid-73262806\/73262806.jpg\" class=\"wp-image-54301\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table class=\"\"><tbody><tr><td>\n \n \n \n \n <strong>Article131\n of Indian Constitution:<\/strong>\n Article 131\n states that \u201csubject to the provisions of this Constitution, the Supreme\n Court shall, to the exclusion of any other court, have original\n jurisdiction in any dispute &nbsp;\n between\n the Government of India and one or more States; or between\n the Government of India and any State or States on one side and one or more\n other States on the other; or between\n two or more States, if and in so far as the dispute involves any question\n (whether of law or fact) on which the existence or extent of a legal right\n depends: Provided that the said jurisdiction shall not extend to a dispute\n arising out of any treaty, agreement, covenant, engagements, and or other\n similar instrument which, having been entered into or executed before the\n commencement of this Constitution, continues in operation after such\n commencement, or which provides that the said jurisdiction shall not extend\n to such a dispute\u201d.\n \n \n <strong>Importance\n of Article 131:<\/strong>\n Art 32 on\n enforcement of rights has been cited in other CAA petitions. Only Art 131\n gives SC original and exclusive jurisdiction to resolve disputes between\n the Centre and one or more States; between Centre and any State or States\n on one side and one or more other States on the other; between two or more\n States.\n <br>\n <br>\n \n \n \n \n \n &nbsp;<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>How\nis Citizenship (Amendment) Act&nbsp;or CAA is discriminatory?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"321\" height=\"292\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogadmin.forumias.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/2-4.jpg?resize=321%2C292&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Text Box: The Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019:\n\u2022\tThe CAA seeks to provide citizenship to illegal migrants from Buddhist, Hindu, Sikhs, Jain, Parsi and Christian faiths, who have come to India from the neighbouring countries of Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh, on or before December 31, 2014.\n\u2022\tCAA came into force on 10 January 2020.\n\" class=\"wp-image-54302\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><strong>Trans-Border\nMigrants: <\/strong>Kerala\nargues that CAA is discriminatory because it covers only a class of minorities\nfrom a class of countries sharing borders with India and to which and from\nthere have been trans-border migration.<\/li><li><strong>Hindus\nfrom other Neighbouring countries:<\/strong> The petition says, \u201cWhile the\nHindus from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh are covered by the Impugned\nAmendment Act, the defendant did not consider the issues of the Hindus,\nprimarily of Tamil descend, in Sri Lanka and Hindu Madhesis in Terai of Nepal,\nwhose ancestors migrated to Sri Lanka and Nepal respectively in the eighteenth\nCentury from the then British India\u201d.<\/li><li><strong>Other\nreligious minorities: <\/strong>Petition further says that CAA covers\ncertain religious minorities of Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan and\noverlook other reportedly persecuted religious minorities and sects such as\nAhmaddiyas, Shias and Hazaras.<\/li><li><strong>Ethnic\nand linguistic Minorities: <\/strong><\/li><li>The\nKerala government said \u201call persecutions are not solely based on religious\ngrounds alone and are for varied reasons like ethnicity, linguistics etc\u201d but\nthe amendments \u201cdo not cover the persecutions on the grounds of ethnicity,\nlinguistics etc even in the said class of three countries\u201d.<\/li><li>\u201cThey\ndo not cover the ethnic issues of Balochs, Sindhis, Pakhtuns and Mohajirs in\nPakistan and the Biharis in Bangladesh\u201d.<\/li><li>The\nImpugned Amendment Act and Rules and Orders further overlook the issues of\nethnic Indians in Malaysia and Fiji.<\/li><li><strong>Violate\nIndia\u2019s international obligations:<\/strong><\/li><li><strong>Universal Declaration of Human Rights:<\/strong><\/li><li><strong>Articles 14: <\/strong>which\nprovides that everyone has the right to seek and enjoy in other countries asylum\nfrom persecution.<\/li><li><strong>Article 15:<\/strong> which provides\nthat everyone has the right to a nationality and that no one shall be\narbitrarily deprived of his nationality nor denied the right to change his\nnationality.<\/li><li><strong>International Covenant on Civil and\nPolitical Rights:<\/strong><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Article 26:<\/strong> which provides\nthat all persons are equal before the law, that all persons are entitled\nwithout any discrimination to the equal protection of the law and that the law\nshall prohibit any discrimination and guarantee to all persons equal and\neffective protection against discrimination on any ground such as race, colour,\nsex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin,\nproperty, birth or other status.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>CAA\nas Centre-State dispute:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"385\" height=\"498\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogadmin.forumias.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/3-3.jpg?resize=385%2C498&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Text Box: NPR means the &quot;National Population Register&quot;: \n\u2022\tNPR has its base in the rules framed by the Central Government under the Citizenship Act, 1955 in 2003 called the Citizenship (Registration of Citizens and Issue of National Identity Cards) Rules, 2003.\n\u2022\tRule 2(l) of these Rules define 'Population Register' as : &quot;Population Register means the register containing details of persons usually residing in a village or rural area or town or ward or demarcated area within a ward in a town or urban area;&quot;\n\u2022\tThe Office of the Registrar General &amp; Census Commissioner describes NPR as &quot;a register of usual residents of the country.&quot; \n\u2022\tA usual resident for the purpose of NPR is a person who has resided in a place for 6 months or more and intends to reside there for a period of another 6 months or more.\n\u2022\tThe preparation of the NPR is carried out under the aegis of the Central Government.\n\" class=\"wp-image-54303\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>In Indian Constitutional set up, the\nUnion government has overriding powers. The relation between the Centre and\nstates is so structured that the laws made by Parliament have to be carried out\nand enforced. Therefore, while CAA is legally binding on states, the NPR is\nnot.<\/li><li>As far as CAA is concerned, states\ncannot say no. Because they are bound to act in compliance in the law passed by\nParliament. The Constitution is clear on that. Central government has the power\nto direct the states to implement a law. The consequence of not complying is\nthat the the Constitution gives the Centre the power to impose President\u2019s rule.<\/li><li>NPR is a \u2018legal orphan\u2019 without backing,\nand is not provided for in the Citizenship Amendment Act. States can refuse to\ncarry it out.<\/li><li>The plea, without articulating how the\nCAA became a Centre-state dispute, said since the Act was \u201cmanifestly arbitrary\nand unconstitutional\u201d as it violated secularism and right to equality, \u201cthus,\nthere exists a dispute involving questions of law and facts between the state\nof Kerala and the Union of India, regarding the enforcement of legal rights as\na state and as well as for the enforcement of fundamental, statutory, constitutional\nand other legal rights of the inhabitants of the state of Kerala. <\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table class=\"\"><tbody><tr><td>\n \n \n \n \n <strong>Difference\n between NPR and Census: <\/strong>\n Census is an exercise carried out\n under the Census Act, 1948. Census data is based on self-declaration made\n by the persons without verification.\n <strong>NRC\/NRIC:<\/strong>\n NRC\/NRIC means National Register of\n Indian Citizens.This has its base in Section 14A of\n the Citizenship Act, which says, among other things, that:The\n Central Government may compulsorily register every citizen of India and\n issue national identity card to him.The\n Central Government may maintain a National Register of Indian Citizens and\n for that purpose establish a National Registration Authority.\n \n \n \n &nbsp;\n \n \n \n \n &nbsp;<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>&nbsp;<\/strong><br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Other\nCentre-State issues:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>A number of states have gotten into\npolitical slugfests with the Centre on the powers of investigative agencies,\nwith West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh even withdrawing the general consent given\nto Central Bureau of Investigation in the past, to carry out investigations in\nthose states.<\/li><li>Maharashtra and Odisha assemblies passed\na resolution urging the Centre to conduct a socio-economic caste enumeration\nalong with the general census 2021, something the central government has\ndisliked to do.<\/li><li>Resource Crunch: Analysts predict that\ndue to the economic slowdown, gross tax revenues for 2019-20 can see a\nshortfall in excess of Rs 3 trillion, and about 35-42 per cent of that\nshortfall will be borne by states, because lower tax collections means lower\ndistribution of the divisible pool to states.&nbsp;<\/li><li>A number of states have complained about\nGoods and Service Tax compensation dues not been released or being delayed by\nthe Finance Ministry.<\/li><li>The upcoming budget, which will\nincorporate recommendations from the 15th Finance Commission, may also create a\nsituation where certain states are not happy with the distribution of\nresources.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Conclusion:\n<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In the time of\neconomic slow-down and the protest against the moves of the ruling government,\nit is important for the government to tackle the situation in a more\nparticipative manner. The concept of cooperative federalism just in words\ncannot help. The government must come forward and take states alongside to help\nIndia achieve its development growth back on track.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Source:\n<\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.business-standard.com\/article\/economy-policy\/will-strained-centre-state-ties-make-2020-a-year-of-constitutional-crises-120011500752_1.html\">https:\/\/www.business-standard.com\/article\/economy-policy\/will-strained-centre-state-ties-make-2020-a-year-of-constitutional-crises-120011500752_1.html<\/a><strong><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Context: Centre-State relations and the recent move by Kerala government against CAA. More in News: The state of Kerala has approached the Supreme Court challenging the Citizenship Amendment Act, 2019 thereby becoming the first State to challenge the contentious law made by the central government. The petition: Kerala filed a plea as an original suit&hellip; <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/7-pm-will-strained-centre-state-ties-make-2020-a-year-of-constitutional-crises16th-january-2020\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">7 PM |Will strained Centre-state ties make 2020 a year of Constitutional crises?|16th January 2020<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":61,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[130,955],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-54297","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-7-pm","category-7-pm-brief-infograph","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","views":{"total":0,"cached_at":"","cached_date":1704773828},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54297","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/61"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=54297"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54297\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=54297"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=54297"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=54297"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}