2. What is citizenship?
Citizenship is the legal right to belong to a
particular country.
In other words, citizenship bestows upon
individuals membership in a national political
community.
Citizens enjoy civil and political rights in a
sovereign state.
Citizenship within the Indian Constitution:
The Constitution of India provided for
Citizenship to Indians under Article 5 to 11
3. The Constitution of India provided for Citizenship to Indians under
Articles 5 to 11. (PART-II)
1) Article 5: provides for citizenship by domicile.
2) Article 6: grants citizenship to persons who migrated from Pakistan
to the present India before the commencement of the Constitution
of India
3) Article 7: confers citizenship on those persons who migrated to
Pakistan after announcement of Independence but later returned
back to India
4) Article 8: provides for citizenship to those persons whose parents
or grandparents were born in India, but are resident of abroad
5) Article 9: provides that any person who acquired the citizenship of
any other country will not be entitled to the citizenship of India.
6) Article 10: states that all citizens shall continue to be citizens of
India
7) Article 11: confers power on the Parliament to make rules regarding
citizenship
4. By virtue of Article 11 of the Constitution
the Parliament enacted the Citizenship Act,
1955
The Act provides for acquisition and loss of
citizenship after the commencement of the
constitution.
5. 1. Citizenship by birth (Sec.3): A person born in
India on or after 3rd December, 2004 is
considered citizen of India by birth if both the
parents are citizens of India or one of the
parents is a citizen of India and the other is not
an illegal migrant at the time of his birth.
2. Citizenship by Descent (Sec.4): Till 1992, a
person whose is born outside India and had an
Indian father, was eligible for citizenship by
descent. However, December 2004 onwards, a
person is considered an Indian citizen if his/her
birth is registered within one year.
6. 3. Citizenship by Registration (Sec.5): Subject to certain
conditions and restrictions, the a person of Indian
origin or a woman married to Indian citizen can be
registered as Indian citizen.
4. Citizenship by Naturalization (Sec.6): Citizenship of
India by naturalization can be acquired by a foreigner
who have resided in India during the last 12 months,
and for 11 of the previous 14 years and satisfies other
qualifications as specified in Third Schedule of the
Act.
Sec.6A. Special provisions as to citizenship of persons
covered by the Assam Accord.
(Sec. 6B inserted by CAA,2019)
3. Citizenship by acquiring territory (Sec.7): If a new
territory becomes a part of India, the government of
India specifies the persons of that territory who shall
be citizens of India
7. The qualifications for naturalisation of a person are―
(a) that he is not a subject or citizen of any country where
citizens of India are prevented by law or practice of that country
from becoming subjects or citizens of that country by
naturalisation;
(b) that, if he is a citizen of any country;
(c) that he has either resided in India or been in the service of a
Government in India or partly the one and partly the other,
throughout the period of twelve months immediately preceding
the date of the application;
[Provided that if the Central Government is satisfied that special
circumstances exist, it may, after recording the circumstances in
writing, relax the period of twelve months up to a maximum of
thirty days which may be in different breaks.]
8. (d) that during the 1 [fourteen years] immediately preceding the said period of
twelve months, he has either resided in India or been in the service of a
Government in India, or partly the one and partly the other, for periods
amounting in the aggregate to not less than 2 [eleven years];
'Provided that for the person belonging to Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi or
Christian community in Afghanistan, Bangladesh or Pakistan, the aggregate
period of residence or service of Government in India as required under this
clause shall be read as "not less than five years" in place of "not less than eleven
years".(CAA,2019)
(e) that he is of good character;
(f) that he has an adequate knowledge of a language specified in the Eighth
Schedule to the Constitution; and
(g) that in the event of a certificate of naturalisation being granted to him, he
intends to reside in India, or to enter into, or continue in, service under a
Government in India or under an international organisation of which India is a
member or under a society, company or body of persons established in India:
Provided that the Central Government may, if in the special circumstances of
any particular case it thinks fit,― (i) allow a continuous period of twelve months
ending not more than six months before the date of the application to be
reckoned, for the purposes of clause (c) above, as if it had immediately
preceded that date; (ii) allow periods of residence or service earlier than 3
[fifteen years] before the date of the application to be reckoned in computing
the aggregate mentioned in clause (d) above.
9. (Overseas citizenship means a person
registered as an overseas citizen of Indian
Card holder by the CG of India)
Sec. 7A. Registration of Overseas Citizen of
India Cardholder.
Sec. 7B. Conferment of rights on Overseas
Citizen of India Cardholder.
Sec. 7C. Renunciation of Overseas Citizen
of India Card.
Sec. 7D. Cancellation of registration as
Overseas Citizen of India Cardholder. (CAA,
2019)
10. Sec. 8. Renunciation of citizenship.
Sec. 9. Termination of citizenship.
Sec. 10. Deprivation of citizenship.
11. The Central Government may, in such cases
as it thinks fit, certify that a person with
respect to whose citizenship of India a doubt
exists, is a citizen of India; and a certificate
issued under this section shall, unless it is
proved that it was obtained by means of
fraud, false representation or concealment
of any material fact, be conclusive evidence
that person was such a citizen on the date
thereof, but without prejudice to any
evidence that he was such a citizen at an
earlier date.
12. (1) The prescribed authority or the Central
Government may, in its discretion, grant or
refuse an application under 1 [sections 5, 6
and 7A] and shall not be required to assign
any reasons for such grant or refusal.
(2) Subject to the provisions of section l5 the
decision of the prescribed authority or the
Central Government on any such application
as aforesaid shall be final and shall not be
called in question in any court.
13. (1) The Central Government may compulsorily register every citizen of
India and issue national identity card to him.
(2) The Central Government may maintain a National Register of
Indian Citizens and for that purpose establish a National Registration
Authority.
(3) On and from the date of commencement of the Citizenship
(Amendment) Act, 2003 (6 of 2004), the Registrar General, India,
appointed under sub-section (1) of section 3 of the Registration of
Births and Deaths Act, 1969 (18 of 1969) shall act as the National
Registration Authority and he shall function as the Registrar General of
Citizen Registration.
(4) The Central Government may appoint such other officers and staff
as may be required to assist the Registrar General of Citizen
Registration in discharging his functions and responsibilities.
(5) The procedure to be followed in compulsory registration of the
citizens of India shall be such as may be prescribed.
15. 1. The Citizenship Act, 1955 to make illegal
migrants who are Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists,
Jains, Parsis and Christians from Afghanistan,
Bangladesh and Pakistan, eligible for
citizenship.(Inserted a Provisio to Sec2(1)(b)
CAA,2019)
Note: The Citizenship Act, 1955 prohibits illegal
migrants from acquiring Indian citizenship
2. It seeks to reduce the minimum years of
residency in India to apply for citizenship to be
lessened from 12 years to 7 years for such
migrants.
16. • According to Citizenship Act 1955, an illegal
migrant is a foreigner who enters the country
without valid travel documents, like a
passport and visa, or enters with valid
documents, but stays beyond the permitted
time period
• Illegal migrants may be imprisoned or
deported under the Foreigners Act, 1946 and
the Passport (Entry into India) Act, 1920.
17. 3. The Act provides that the registration of
Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) cardholders
may be cancelled if they violate any law.
(Amended - Sec.7D)
The Act will apply to all States and Union
Territories of the country.
Note: OCIs are persons who are given a
lifetime visa status.
18. The Citizenship (Amendment) Act grant
citizenship to the non-Muslims Hindus, Sikhs,
Christians, Buddhist, Jains and Parsis -- from
Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh who
arrived in India before December 31, 2014.
In other words, the CAA paves way for Indian
citizenship to lakhs of immigrants, who
identify themselves with any of the given
religions, even if they lacked any document
to prove their residency. It also means that
any immigrant who does not belong to the
said communities would not be eligible for
Indian citizenship
19. 1. Violation of Right to Equality:
• The bill violates the Right to Equality (Article 14)
as it seeks to grant citizenships to illegal
migrants on the basis of religion.
• It fails the test of reasonability contained in
Article 14. This is because it does not provide
any concrete reasons for limiting eligibility of
citizenship to 6 minorities of only 3 countries.
• For example: Rohingya Muslims from Myanmar,
Ahmadiyya and Shia Muslims from Pakistan and
Uighur Muslims from China who face religious
persecution have been overlooked.
20. 2. Against the Basic Structure of the
Constitution: Critics argue that the Act
undermines secularism and is thus against
the Basic Structure of the Constitution.
Secularism as a basic structure has been
reiterated by the Supreme Court in S R
Bommai vs. Union of India (1994)
21. 3. Violation of Assam Accord:
Section 6A of the Citizenship Act relates to
provisions for citizenship of people covered by
the Assam Accord. The Act fixes March 25, 1971
as the cut-off date for granting citizenship to
Bangladeshi migrants in Assam. However, the Act
makes changes the cut-off date.
Critics argue that the Act would undermine the
rights of indigenous Assamese people and would
be in violation of Clause 6 of Assam accord which
ensures constitutional, legislative and
administrative safeguards, to protect, preserve
and promote the culture, social, linguistic
identity and heritage of the Assamese people.
22. 4. Conflict with NRC: There is an
apprehension that the Act would be in
conflict with the ongoing exercise to
update the National Register of Citizens in
Assam, for which the cut-off date is March
25th, 1971
23. NRC is the National Register of Citizens.
The NRC identified and eliminated illegal immigrants from Assam on
the Supreme Court's order.
This has been a state-specific exercise to keep its ethnic uniqueness
unaltered. But ever since its implementation, there has been a
growing demand for its nationwide implementation. Now, many top
BJP leaders including Home Minister Amit Shah have proposed that the
NRC in Assam be implemented across India. It effectively suggests to
bring a legislation that will enable the government to identify
infiltrators who have been living in India illegally, detain them and
finally to deport them where they came from.
24. Assam BJP unit president Ranjeet Kumar Dass
said that bringing Citizenship Amendment Act
(CAA) has become more pertinent for over 19
lakh people are excluded in the final national
register of citizens (NRC) published on August 31.
He said that the Act will benefit large number of
Indians who did not make it to the NRC. BJP has
been alleging that not accepting refugee
certificate issued prior 1971 has resulted in the
exclusion of large number of Bengali Hindu, Koch
Rajbonshi and Buddhist people from final NRC.
25. 5. Vague procedure to cancel OCI
registration: The Act allows cancellation of
OCI registration for violation of any law.
But the offences covered under this have
not been mentioned, hence, OCI can be
cancelled for petty offences.
26. 6. Fails on the tenets of international
refugee law: Although India is not a
signatory to the 1951 UN Refugee
Convention, granting refuge based on
humanitarian considerations is arguably a
norm of customary international law. The Act
considers persecuted minorities as migrants
whereas word migration refers to
the voluntary movement of people, primarily
for better economic prospects. Contrarily,
refuge is an involuntary act of forced
movement.
27. 7. Concerns over Insurgency:
The North Eastern states have vehemently
opposed the Act over the concerns that
citizenship to illegal migrants would pose a
threat to their cultural and linguistic
identity and put a strain on resources and
economic opportunities.
There have already been widespread
protests in NE states which further arise
concerns over insurgency.
28. 8.Violation of United Nations Declaration
on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples
(UNDRIP): The Act particularly violates
Clause 1 of the Declaration which states
that indigenous peoples and individuals
have the right not to be subjected to
forced assimilation or destruction of their
culture
29. • All NE states (Tripura partially) have
been opposing the Act.
• Mizoram is concerned that Buddhist
Chakmas from Bangladesh may take
advantage of the law
• Meghalaya and Nagaland are
apprehensive of influx of Bengali migrants
• Arunachal Pradesh fears that the law
would favour and benefit the Chakma,
Hajongs and the Tibetans
30. 1. The Act should be seen in a positive light as it
seeks to address the plight of persecuted minorities
who had no other option aside from coming to India
illegally.
2. However, the government must look to
accommodate the Ahmadiyyas, Uyghurs and
Rohingyas who are persecuted minorities and have
approached India to seek refuge in time of need.
3. Further, the government should also formulate
policies and take appropriate measures to provide
education, employment and a decent living to the
concerned migrants.
4. The government should take necessary steps to
assure that the rights ad socio-cultural identity of
indigenous people is not affected.
