Kerala Governor Arif Mohammad Khan Seeks Report From State Government Over CAA Suit Filed In SC

The rift between the Pinarayi Vijayan-led LDF government and Governor Arif Mohammad Khan widened on Sunday (18 January) 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 Act 2019 became a law last month. It reached a flash point when on 13 January, 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 (18 January) state Law Minister A K Balan tried to play down the differences, saying the government has no intention to take a confrontational 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 (20 January) to decide the next course of action.

(This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text. Only the headline has been changed.)