Citizenship law fails three tests of classification: Faizan Mustafa, VC of NALSAR University of Law
The Citizenship (Amendment) Act goes against constitutional vision and is unreasonable and arbitrary, Faizan Mustafa, vice-chancellor of NALSAR University of Law, tells ET Bureau. Edited excerpts:
The Opposition argues that the Citizenship (Amendment) Act or CAA is anti-constitutional.
The CAA goes against the constitutional vision. This classification is not a reasonable classification because, one, it does not cover all the neighbouring countries. Two, it does not cover all persecuted minorities. The CAA is neither based on a reasonable classification nor does it have a rational object or just object to achieve. Three, it is arbitrary.
But BJP says Article 14 allows classification?
They are right. It allows classification but the classification must be reasonable. And a classification must have a rationale and just object to achieve. And it must be non-arbitrary.
These three tests must be satisfied. In my opinion, CAA does not satisfy these tests.
What happens if CAA is challenged in the Supreme Court?
It will definitely be challenged. The court will generally refer it to a constitutional bench and it will not be promptly decided. Unless the court takes a bold stand and stays it, this law will be implemented, in my opinion.
How do you look at the apprehensions around CAA, seen along with the National Register of Citizens (NRCNSE 2.22 %)?
If the government declares it is not going ahead with the NRC, CAA is welcome. In NRC, when people get excluded, how will you include them? If people start getting punished for not having documents or discrepancies in documents, we are heading towards a disaster because poor and illiterate people don’t have documents. I think the nation, with these unnecessary steps, is not going in the right direction, particularly when our economy is going through a bad patch.
What do you have to say about the apprehensions of Muslims about CAA?
Their apprehensions are genuine. The CAA in itself may not be bad but, read with NRC, it is a dangerous proposition, not only for Muslims but also for Hindus. Poor Hindus will be equally affected, like it happened in Assam.
They are going to be equally excluded and targeted and they all will stop working. They will all be searching for documents; they will be bribing people to get documents.
And national productivity, GDP, will suffer. It is an injustice to ask people to prove their citizenship on the basis of documents and get excluded if there is a small discrepancy.
Courtesy: economictimes.indiatimes.com
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Surat LS candidate Nilesh Kumbhani whose nomination form was rejected suspended from Congress
Ahmedabad, Apr 25: The Gujarat Congress on Friday suspended from the party for six years its Surat Lok Sabha candidate Nilesh Kumbhani, whose nomination form was rejected over discrepancies leading to the BJP's Mukesh Dalal getting elected unopposed.
A statement from the Congress said the party's disciplinary committee decided to suspend Kumbhani after thorough discussion, adding it had come to the conclusion that the nomination form was rejected due to gross negligence on his part or "in connivance with the BJP".
"To be fair to you we have given time to you to explain your case but instead of coming before the party disciplinary committee you have gone incommunicado. After your form was rejected by the authorities, BJP went ahead and got form of other eight candidates withdrawn. This has deprived people of Surat their voting rights," the Congress disciplinary committee headed by Balu Patel said.
"People of Surat and party workers have become very angry due to your action and are expressing their anger in different ways. The Congress party has decided to suspend you for six years from the party," the press note said.
Kumbhani's nomination form was rejected on April 21 after his three proposers submitted affidavits to the district returning officer claiming the signatures on the document was not theirs.
The nomination form of Suresh Padsala, the Congress' substitute candidate from Surat, was also invalidated on the same grounds.
In his order, Returning Officer Sourabh Pardhi said the three nomination forms submitted by Kumbhani and Padsala were rejected after prima facie discrepancy was found in the signatures of the proposers and they did not appear to be genuine.
Kumbhani, a former corporator from Surat, had unsuccessfully fought the 2022 Assembly polls from Kamrej there.
The Bharatiya Janata Party's Mukesh Dalal was elected unopposed from Surat Lok Sabha constituency on April 22 after all other nominees, including one from BSP, withdrew from the fray one by one on the last day of withdrawing papers.
