In a recent update, the Supreme Court ruled that the state assemblies can pass resolutions against the Central laws. The SC said that resolutions are mere opinions of the State Assemblies and not the force of law.
PIL Against State Assemblies Passing Resolutions Against Central Laws
As per the latest reports, the Rajasthan-based NGO named Samta Andolan Samiti filed a PIL. The PIL said that the State Assemblies like that of Rajasthan, Punjab, West Bengal and Kerala had no business to pass resolutions against the Central laws especially when they come under the Union List of the Seven Schedule of the Constitution.
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The NGO was represented by the senior advocate Saumya Chakraborty who asked the SC to quash the resolutions passed and declare them void. The hearing was mainly about the resolution that the Kerala Assembly had passed on December 31, 2019 against the CAA Bill. They had criticized the bill and accused it of violating the right to equality. They asked the Central government to remove the bill completely.
Following this, a bench led by the Chief Justice Sharad A. Bobde heard the plea. In his statement he said that the resolution passed by the Kerala Assembly was the “opinion of the majority”. At the same time, they didn’t tell anybody to not obey the law that was passed. They had only asked the parliament to abrogate the law.
“It is only an opinion and does not have the force of law,” said Chief Justice Bobde.
Chief Justice Bobde Gave State Assembly The Right To Express Opinion
During the hearing the petitioner argued that the Kerala Assembly shouldn’t express an opinion against the law passed by the parliament irrespective of the nature. Mr. Chakraborty said that the State Assemblies cannot make laws on the subjects that are under the jurisdiction of the Union List.
Following this, Chief Justice Bobde said that he does agree when the petitioner says that the State Assemblies don’t have the authority to pass laws against the Central laws. But they do have the right to express their opinions on the same.
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Eventually, the court adjourned the case for four weeks. The bench has asked the petitioner to do more research on the case.
Kerala Is The First State To Pass Resolution Against CAA Bill
This comes after the Kerala State Assembly passed a resolution against the CAA Bill. It was the first to take this step. P. Vijayam who moved the resolution in the assembly and the Leader of Opposition Ramesh Chennithala who supported the bill claimed that it would encourage religion based discrimination across the country. The Chief Minister also said that the bill hampered the secular values that are enshrined in the Indian Constitution.
