Serious constitutional, security concerns: Shobha Karandlaje flags K’taka PRC; seeks HM Shah’s intervention

Bengaluru, July 10 (IANS) Union Minister of State for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises and Labour and Employment Shobha Karandlaje appealed to Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday seeking his immediate intervention against the Karnataka Permanent Residence (PRC), 2026, on Constitutional and national security grounds. 

It can be noted that Karnataka Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar has announced the issuance of Permanent Residence Certificates (PRCs) to help eligible citizens participate in the Election Commission’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. He maintained that the move aims to prevent eligible voters from being deleted from the voter lists.

She has written a letter to Amit Shah: “I write this representation seeking your immediate intervention regarding the notification issued by the Government of Karnataka introducing the Karnataka Permanent Residence Certificate (PRC), 2026. The notification raises serious constitutional, legal and national security concerns that require urgent examination by the Union government.”

“The Constitution of India envisages one citizenship for all citizens across the country. The introduction of a ‘Permanent Residence Certificate’ by the Government of Karnataka is contrary to this constitutional framework, as it seeks to create a separate category of ‘permanent residents’ without any constitutional or statutory authority,” she noted.

“Such a classification is arbitrary, lacks a rational nexus with any legitimate constitutional objective, and is violative of Article 14 of the Constitution. By creating a separate class of individuals designated as ‘permanent residents’, the State Government is effectively conferring a distinct legal recognition that has no sanction under the Constitution,” she underlined.

“The notification is even more alarming from the perspective of national security. The eligibility criterion prescribed therein to be primarily based on residence and local verification by revenue authorities. However, there is no provision mandating verification of Indian citizenship through the competent Central authorities or any robust mechanism to exclude illegal immigrants and foreign nationals,” she pointed out.

She said in the letter that, consequently, persons who have illegally entered India or are residing unlawfully in the state may, by producing local documents or through fraudulent means, secure a Permanent Residence Certificate. Once such a certificate is issued, it may be relied upon to obtain various state benefits, government documents, educational admissions, employment opportunities and other entitlements, thereby legitimising illegal residence and frustrating the efforts of the Union government to identify and remove illegal immigrants.

Karandlaje further observed: “Matters related to citizenship, foreigners, immigration and internal security fall within the exclusive domain of Union government under the Constitution. Any State-level mechanism that indirectly creates documentary recognition resembling a permanent residency status has the potential to interfere with these constitutional functions and undermine the uniform framework governing citizenship and internal security across the country.”

The issuance of such certificates without proper citizenship verification may also facilitate the integration of illegal migrants into the administrative framework of the state, posing a serious threat to national security and public order, she said.

“In these circumstances, I humbly request your good office to examine the constitutional validity of the Karnataka Permanent Residence Certificate (PRC), 2026; direct the government of Karnataka to keep the implementation in abeyance pending such examination; seek a detailed report from the state government regarding the constitutional and statutory authority under which the notification has been issued; ensure that no Permanent Residence Certificate (PRC) is issued without comprehensive verification of Indian citizenship through the competent central agencies; and take such further action as may be necessary to safeguard the constitutional framework, national security and the principle of equality guarded under the Constitution of India,” the Union Minister appealed.

“Considering the far-reaching constitutional implications and the serious concerns relating to national security, I request your immediate intervention in the matter,” she concluded

–IANS

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