States cannot deny implementation of CAA: Congress' Bhupinder Singh Hooda

Leader of opposition in the Haryana assembly and senior Congress leader Bhupinder Singh Hooda on Monday said that any state cannot deny the implementation of a certain law or act, once it has been passed by the Parliament. Seemingly referring to the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), the former Haryana CM said that according to the constitutional view, any state cannot 'say no' to the act, but the said act can be legally examined.

"Once a law or Act is passed by Parliament, I think that the constitutional view is that, any state can’t and should not say no but this has to be legally examined," said Bhupinder Singh Hooda to news agency ANI.

This comes in the backdrop of Congress looking to pass resolutions against the amended citizenship act in the legislative assemblies of the states where the grand old party is in power.

The Punjab government on Friday passed an anti-CAA resolution in the state assembly, news agencies reported. The resolution, urging the Centre to repeal CAA, was moved by state minister Brahm Mohindra on the second day of the two-day special session of the state assembly.

Member of Parliament and senior leader of the Congress, Ahmed Patel, on Sunday said that the grand old party was mulling over following Punjab's example and bringing anti-CAA resolutions in three other states where Congress is in power - Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, and Chhattisgarh. He added that it would send a 'clear message' to the central government to 'reconsider' the amended citizenship act.

"After Punjab, we are thinking about bringing a resolution against the Citizenship Amendment Act in states like Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, and Chhattisgarh. It would be a clear message to the central government to reconsider the Act," news agency ANI quoted veteran Congress leader Ahmed Patel.

Earlier, senior Congress leader and former Union Law Minister Kapil Sibal said that a state cannot deny the implementation of the CAA when it is already passed by Parliament. He, however, added that state assembly is empowered with the constitutional right to pass a resolution and ask the central government to withdraw the CAA. 

If the Supreme Court passes a verdict declaring the CAA as constitutional, it will become problematic for the state to oppose its implementation, Sibal has added.

Notably, Rajasthan is likely to bring a resolution against the implementation of the CAA in the assembly on January 24, on its first day of the budget session.