The Punjab government has moved the Supreme Court challenging the Centre's decision to expand the jurisdiction of the Border Security Force (BSF) in three states. The Charanjit Singh Channi government said the extension of BSF jurisdiction encroaches upon the constitutional jurisdiction of the states.
"It is submitted that the notification dated October 11, 2021 is ultra-vires the Constitution as it defeats the purpose of Entry 1 and 2 of List-II of Schedule 7 of the Constitution of India and encroaches upon plaintiff's plenary authority to legislate on issues which relate to or are necessary for the maintenance of public order and internal peace," the petition said.
The suit was listed before the Registrar on Friday who issued a notice to the Centre. The matter will come up for hearing after four weeks.
"I congratulate Punjab and it's legal team to be the 1st to approach the Hon'ble Supreme Court by filing an original suit challenging the notification extending the BSF jurisdiction," said Punjab Congress president Navjot Singh Sidhu on Twitter.
"The fight to retain the principles embodied in the constitution i.e. to retain the federal structure and autonomy of the states has begun ... Notice issued to the centre to respond," he said in another tweet.
On October 11, the Union Home Ministry issued a notification expanding the BSF's jurisdiction to undertake search, seizure and arrest within a larger 50-km stretch from the international border in Assam, West Bengal and Punjab, as compared to the earlier 15 km. In Gujarat, which shares its border with Pakistan, the limit has been reduced from 80 km to 50 km, while in Rajasthan, it has been kept unchanged at 50 km.
Both Punjab and Rajasthan had condemned the move and passed resolutions against it in the respective state assemblies.
With 2.65 lakh personnel, the BSF has 192 operational battalions and is the country's largest border-guarding force.
