Kerala Governor seeks report from govt over CAA suit

Thiruvananthapuram: The rift between the Pinarayi Vijayan-led LDF government and Governor Arif Mohammed Khan widened on Sunday with Khan reportedly seeking an explanation from the Chief Secretary on why the Governor was not informed about the state government's plan to move the Supreme Court over the controversial new citizenship law.

The Governor and the state government have been caught in a war of words ever since the Citizenship Amendment 2019 Act became a law last month. It reached a flash point when on January 13, Kerala became the first state in the country to file a suit in the Supreme Court against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).

The suit requests the court to declare the CAA unconstitutional.

However, on Saturday state Law Minister A.K. Balan tried to play down the differences, saying the government has no intention to take a confrontationist stance against the Governor.

Balan said that if the Governor sought a clarification, the state government would surely respond. "We have never questioned the Governor and, in case, if it sounded like that, it pains us," said Balan.

Subsequently, the missive was sent from Khan's office asking Chief Secretary Tom Jose to submit a report.

Government sources said a legal advice has been sought to draft a reply to Khan's query and that the state cabinet would meet on Monday to decide the next course of action.