Lawyers read Constitution preamble outside HC; call CAA "constitutionally wrong"

A group of lawyers gathered outside the Bombay High Court gate on Monday to read out Preamble to the Constitution of India in protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). Over 50 lawyers, including senior counsels Navroze Seervai, Gayatri Singh and Mihir Desai, read out the preamble in unison and later said no one can divide the country and its citizens on the basis of religion.

The lawyers said the CAA seeks to provide citizenship to refugees belonging to six religious communities but leaves out one -Islam, which is "constitutionally wrong". Nation-wide protests erupted in opposition to the Act passed by the Parliament. On January 7, a group of lawyers read out the preamble of the Constitution in the national capital on Tuesday at Supreme Court lawns to make people remember the constitutional values. Apart from senior lawyers Kamini Jaiswal and Sanjay Parikh, several lawyers were present on the occasion. The move comes in the backdrop of protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act. Recently, the preamble was also read out in Madras High Court as a part of the anti-CAA protests. 

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"The Executive Committee of the Supreme Court Bar Association today resolved to strongly condemn the violence against JNU students by anti-social elements. The Executive Committee of the Supreme Court Bar Association today resolved to strongly condemn the violence against JNU students by anti-social elements. It further resolved to condemn the inaction on the part of the Delhi Police and called upon the authorities to act and ensure that the Rule of Law prevailed," the statement read.

States against CAA

Shortly after the Punjab Assembly passed a resolution by voice to vote against the contentious amended Citizenship Act (CAA), Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh said on Friday that his government is likely to approach the Supreme Court over the issue. Punjab will become the second state, after Kerala to move the top court over the controversial legislation that has sparked nationwide protests.

Captain Amarinder Singh said that the PM Modi-led government will have to make the necessary amendments to the CAA, if it has to be implemented in Punjab and other states opposing the Act. Outside the state Assembly he said, "Like Kerala, our government will also approach the Supreme Court on the issue." On January 4, the Kerala Assembly passed a resolution for not implementing the Act in the state and also wrote to the central government about the controversial legislation Moreover, Vijayan wrote to the eleven state governments who are against CAA to follow the same. The LDF which rules the state has taken a firm stance against CAA and NRC, staging several protests across the state.

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Amid the ongoing opposition to the CAA through nation-wide protests and political agitation, senior Congress leader Kapil Sibal at the Kerala Literature Festival said that no state can deny the implementation of the Act, as it has already been passed in the Parliament. He said, "If CAA is passed, no state can say 'I will not implement it'. It is not possible and is unconstitutional. On the contrary, Congress' Ahmed Patel on Sunday notified that the party was 'thinking' to bring a resolution against the controversial CAA in Congress-ruled states in the Hindi Heartland. 

Furthering her anti-NPR campaign, West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee on Monday has urged north-east states to stall the national population register (NPR) updation process. Moreover, she advised all states including those ruled by BJP to read the law before starting the process in their states. She also urged all the states to pass anti-CAA resolutions, while West Bengal itself has not done it yet.

(With PTI inputs)