Kerala became the first State to challenge in the Supreme Court the constitutionality of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), 2019, which came into force on January 10, 2020.
The State on January 14, 2020 approached the Supreme Court and filed a petition under Article 131 of the Constitution and asked for the law to be declared unconstitutional and in violation of Articles 14 (equality before law), 21 (protection of life and personal liberty) and 25 (freedom of conscience and free profession, practice, and propagation of religion).
About Article 131
- The Article 131 of the Supreme Court vests the Supreme Court with original jurisdiction over disputes occurring between states or between states and the Centre.
- The jurisdiction in Article 131 is exclusive, meaning it is only the Supreme Court which has this authority.
Article 131:
Original jurisdiction of the Supreme Court Subject to the provisions of this Constitution, the Supreme Court shall, to the exclusion of any other court, have original jurisdiction in any dispute:
(a) between the Government of India and one or more States; or
(b) between the Government of India and any State or States on one side and one or more other States on the other; or
(c) between two or more States, if and in so far as the dispute involves any question (whether of law or fact) on which the existence or extent of a legal right depends: Provided that the said jurisdiction shall not extend to a dispute arising out of any treaty, agreement, covenant, engagements, and or other similar instrument which, having been entered into or executed before the commencement of this Constitution, continues in operation after such commencement, or which provides that the said jurisdiction shall not extend to such a dispute.
