Kerala moved SC against ‘unconstitutional’, ‘illegal’ financial measures of Centre: CM Vijayan
Kottayam: Accusing the BJP-ruled Centre of pushing Kerala into dire financial straits, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Thursday said the reason behind his government moving the Supreme Court was to restore the constitutional rights of the state.
The Chief Minister explained that the objective behind initiating the legal battle against the central government was to obtain an order from the apex court under Article 131 of the Constitution, which deals with settling Centre-State disputes.
His statement came a day after the Left government moved the Supreme Court against the Centre’s allegedly “unconstitutional and illegal” measures that have plunged the southern state into financial troubles.
Vijayan contended that despite the state government’s repeated communication to the union government to cease its “discriminatory” actions, it intensified its “vindictive moves,” making it difficult for Kerala to survive. He urged the Centre to refrain from encroaching on the state’s economic autonomy.
The CM cautioned that if the Centre does not halt its encroachment on the state’s economic autonomy, Kerala will be pushed to financial disaster.
“In this backdrop, the state government has approached the top court against the discriminatory measures of the Centre which is throwing Kerala into dire straits by sacrificing the federal principles of the Constitution,” he said at a press conference held here as part of the Nava Kerala Sadas, an outreach programme of the Left administration.
Vijayan said the petition seeks to restore the constitutional rights of the state governments by urging the apex court to prevent unconstitutional interference by the Centre in the states’ financial affairs, repeal unconstitutional cuts to state borrowing limits, revoke the Centre’s order including the states’ public account liabilities in the borrowing limit, etc.
The plea also seeks to prohibit the central measures that encroach upon the states’ constitutional prerogatives by the exercise of powers not contained in the Constitution.
