CAN STATE REJECT THE IMPLEMENTATION OF NPR & NRC? Diksha Srivastava BASICS OF LAW Sat, Jan 04, 2020, at ,09:30 PM ‘India’ is a union of states and the states have voluntarily surrendered their sovereignty to the center, it imparts a legal duty on the states to comply with the legislation made by the center. However, various instances have been seen in which the state’s decision has been colliding with the centers. Sovereignty, in political theory, the ultimate overseer, or authority, in the decision-making process of the state and in the maintenance of order. The implementation of the Citizenship Amendment Act and the brewing National Population Register and thereafter National Register of Indian Citizens are certain issues that have set the stage for a showdown between the Centre and states. As protests continue in the country against NRC and CAA, several chief ministers came up saying that they will not implement the two in their states. The West Bengal government-run by All India Trinamool Congress Party has ordered a stay on all NPR activities. The Seventh Schedule of the Constitution divides the subjects on which the Centre and states can make laws under the Union, State and Concurrent lists. The subject of citizenship, naturalization and aliens are exclusively the matters mentioned in the union list. So far as the NRC and NPR are concerned, it will be difficult to implement them without the co-operation of the state governments. There are approximately 10 states whose chief ministers have refused their implementation, of which the states of Bihar, Andhra Pradesh, and Odisha have refused to only implement the NRC, while the state of Punjab, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Kerala the union territories of Delhi and Puducherry have refused to implement the Act while only expressing disapproval of the NRC. At the same time, state governments can move courts but cannot refuse to implement the center’s directions on NRC & NPR. The Supreme Court is currently having a batch of over 60 petitions which challenge the constitutionality of the Citizenship Amendment Act. The apex court has decided to hear the case on 22 Jan 2020. Similarly, a petition can be filed by the states against the implementation of NRC & NPR. All the major countries in the world including the USA have their National Registers containing the name of their citizens. In the current Indian scenario where we are facing unemployment, deaths due to lack of medical facilities and a number of issues due to the overpowering population, it is the need of the hour to have a comprehensive data of all the persons residing in the country (whether citizens or non- citizens). The NPR is a list of "usual residents" of the country whereas, the NRC is a list of only the Indian citizens. Hence, it can be concluded that on the one hand the states cannot reject the implementation of NRC & NPR based on legal grounds, and on the other hand it should not do so.