Former Union Minister Jairam Ramesh has written to President Ram Nath Kovind, objecting to the “indiscriminate use” of Article 254 (2) of the Constitution by BJP governments in the States to bypass “inconvenient” Parliament-enacted laws.
The Congress leader said the BJP governments were passing laws violating the Land Acquisition Act, 2013.
Mr. Ramesh’s November 4 letter says, “These laws allow for the acquisition of land in States without having to satisfy any of the Central safeguards built into the 2013 Central law, such as right to consent, social impact assessment and, in the case of Tamil Nadu, even rehabilitation and resettlement.”
He said Article 254(2) was never intended, even in its broadest sense, to weaken Central laws because they were found to be inconvenient.
