Citizenship is being considered as the right of rights

Citizenship Act 1955

(as on date)

Section 1	Short Title
Section 2	Definitions/Intrepretation
Section 2(I)(b)	Who are illegal migrants
Section 3	Citizenship by birth (Jus soli)	Born in India
Section 4	Citizenship by descent (jus sanguinis)	Born outside India but any parent is India
Section 5	Citizenship by registration	Persons of Indian origin/ married to I ndian citizen (1 +6/8)
Section 6	Citizenship by naturalization	Other country citizens residing in India (1+ 11/14)
Section 6A	Special provisions as to citizenship covered by Assam Accord
Section 7	Citizenship by incorporation of territory
Section 7A	Registration of overseas citizens of India
Section 8	Renunciation of citizenship
Section 9	Termination of Citizenship
Section 10	Deprivation of citizenship
Section 14A	Maintain National Register of Indian Citizens
Third schedule	Qualifications of naturalization

Citizenship Amendment Act 1985

Inserted Section 6A- Special provisions as to citizen ship covered by Assam Accord

<1 Jan 1966	All persons of Indian origin who came to Assam from specified territory (Bangladesh) and ordinarily resident shall be deemed to be citizens of India
1 Jan 1966 - 25 Mar 1971	All persons of Indian origin who came to Assam from Bangladesh and who has been detected as foreigner shall register himself. Such registered persons shall be deemed to be citizens of India

Citizenship Amendment Act 1986

Section 3 - Citizenship by birth

Added Condition of 1 July 1987 (Commencement of 1986 amendment)

Citizenship Amendment Act 1992

Section 4- citizenship by descent

Added condition of 10 Dec 1992 (Commencement of 1992 amendment)

Citizenship Amendment Act 2003

Section 3 - Citizenship by birth

Added Condition of 3rd Dec 2004 (Commencement of 2003 amendment)
(Refer hardcopy notes)

Section 4- citizenship by descent

Added condition of 3rd Dec 2004

‘illegal migrants’&nbs those who arrived without valid travel documents includes refugees
‘illegal migrants’ will not be eligible to apply for citizenship by either registration or naturalization
Introduced Section 14A

Compulsory to register and issue ID card for citizens
May maintain NRIC
Establish National Registration Authority

Registrar General of India will act as National Registration Authority and Registrar General of Indian Citizens

Citizenship Amendment Act 2005

Registration of Overseas citizens of India
Modified

Section 7A - Registration of overseas citizens of India

Modified the residence requirement in India for acquiring citizenship through registration for overseas citizen of India from 2 years to 1 year
Deletion of Fourth schedule

Citizenship Amendment Act 2015

Registration of Overseas Citizen of India Cardholder
Modified

Section 7A- Registration of overseas citizens of India Cardholder
Section 7B- Conferment of rights on Overseas Citizen of India Cardholder.
Section 7C - Renunciation of Overseas Citizen of India Cardholder.
Section 7D - Cancellation of Overseas Citizen of India Cardholder.

Citizenship Amendment Act 2019

Naturalized citizenship for Hindu, Christian, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan (before 2014)
5 years aggregate and 12 month continuous before application - total 6 years

Provisions of bill

Any person belonging to Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi or Christian community from Afghanistan, Bangladesh or Pakistan, who entered into India on or before the 31st day of December, 2014 and who has been exempted by the Central Government by or under Passport (Entry into India) Act, 1920 or from the Foreigners Act, 1946 shall not be treated as illegal migrant - Modified Section 2(I)(b) of Citizenship Act 1955 which defines who are illegal migrants
As already in place with Citizenship Act 1955 (Section 6), any person, not being an illegal migrant, can be granted citizenship under naturalization if he possess some qualifications as mentioned in the third schedule of the Citizenship act 1955
Hence, these communities which are not illegal migrants with this amendment to apply for citizenship through naturalization and can become naturalised citizens
Aggregate period of service required for acquiring Citizenship through Naturalization after this amendment for these communities will be 'not less than five years' instead of 11 years in general - < span style='font-weight:bold;font-family:"Nirmala UI";font-size:11.0pt'>Modified Third Schedule of Citizenship Act 1955 that contains qualifications for naturalization

Implies that 5 years aggregate and 12 months continuous before application - total 6 years

Exemptions

6th schedule Tribal areas (in Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Tripura) and the Inner Line Permit areas under Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulation, 1873 (Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland and Mizoram, Manipur) are exempted

Also, widens the ground for the cancellation of an OCI registration by the Central Government, i.e. if a person violates any law in force in the country.

Bill Statement of Objects

Persecuted term not present in the CAA 2019 but it is present in statement of object

References

Section 2(I)(b) defines who are illegal migrants
Section 3- Citizenship by birth, 4 - by descent, 5- by registration, 6- by naturalization

This does not include persecuted sects of majority- for example Ahmadiyas in Pak are persecuted, Rohingyas in Myanmar, Tamils in Sri Lanka
IMDT Illegal Migrant Determination by Tribunal Act 1983 - Declared unconstitutional by Supreme court in 2005

Foreigners in Assam dealt with IMDT. Out of Assam, it is dealt with foreigners act 1946

India is not member to UN Refugee Convention of 1951 and UN Convention on Statelessness 1954, 1961

Illegal migrant

Section 2(1)(b) of Citizenship Act, 1955 defines illegal migrant as 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 will not be eligible to apply for citizenship by either registration or naturalization

NRIC / NRC National Register of Indian Citizens

It is register of Indian Citizens

NRC contains the names of bona fide Indian Citizens that distinguish them from the foreigners. It is updated periodically

Section 14A of Citizenship Act 1955 empowers the government to compulsorily register every citizen of India and issue an identity card and may maintain a ‘Nation Register of Indian Citizens
Accordingly, The Citizenship (Registration of Citizens and Issue of National Identity Card) Rules, 2003

Mandate: Central Govt must make the registration of all citizens of India, issue of national id cards, maintenance of national population register, establishment of NRC
Hence, according to these rules,

Registrar General of Citizen Registration is to collect particulars of individuals and families including their citizenship status through a house to house enumeration
Taluk level officers will prepare a National Register of Indian Citizens after filtering Indian citizens from the NPR
Assam has a different methodology where in individuals applied

Act says NRIC maintenance is not mandatory however it is mandatory to register every citizen and issue identity card. But The Citizenship (Registration of Citizens and Issue of National Identity Card) Rules, 2003 says that the Registrar General of India, who is also the Registrar General of Citizenship Registration, SHALL establish and maintain the national citizenship register

Simply, according to the act, it is not mandatory to maintain NRIC. But according to the rules, it is mandatory

Policy decisions, guidelines and funds for NRC updation are provided by the Central Government of India, but its implementation is done through the State Government machinery under the Registrar General of India who functions as the Registrar General of Citizen Registration

NRIC uses the database of NPR

However, updation of NRIC based on NPR is not mandatory
Previously, Govt did not update NRIC though NPR is updated

NPR National Population Register

It is a register of Population. It is a register enumerating all residents in the country,

It is a list of “u ual residents of the country”A “usual resident f the country” is one who has been residing in a local area for at leas the last six months or intends to stay in a particular location for the next six months

The Citizenship (Registration of Citizens and Issue of National Identity Card) Rules, 2003 introduced the term ‘Population Register’< li>
Objective

The particulars collected in the population registrar shall be verified and scrutinized for the purpose of preparation and inclusion in the citizenship register. In other words, NRIC is based on the data of NPR
For efficient delivery of welfare and social benefits under government schemes

Household wise NPR data was used in better targeting of schemes such as Ayushman Bharat, Jan Dhan Yojana, Prime Minister Awas Yojana, Ujjwala Yojana, Saubhagya etc,

Data collection

The data under NPR was collected through door to door enumeration under various categories like age, marital status, place of birth, nationality (as declared), present and permanent residential address, occupation, activity and educational qualification.
NPR will have both biometric data and demographic data
Registrar General of India is responsible for enrolling

NPR is mandatory

It is compulsory for all Indian residents to register with the NPR
NOTE: Aadhar is voluntary

History

Data for the National Population Register (NPR) was first collected in 2010
The NPR was updated in 2015 by seeding it with biometric details of Aadhaar

NPR is about residence but NRIC is about citizenship
It implies that NPR may have foreigners as well
Census vs NPR

Census is not an individual identity exercise and it is a macro exercise while NPR collects identity details of every individual
Census data is protected by a confidentiality clause. The government has committed that it will not reveal information received from an individual except for the headcount.

Foreigners Act 1946

Confers powers to deal with all foreigners
Govt empowered to take steps to prevent illegal migrants even by using force
Doctrine of Burden of proof

Burden of proof rests on the individual charged with being a foreigner but not on the authorities
This concept is also upheld by a Constitutional bench of SC

Empowered Govt to establish Tribunals that have powers of Civil Court

Foreigners (Tribunals) Order, 1964 under Foreigners Act 1946

It has empowered district magistrates in all States and Union Territories to set up tribunals to decide whether a person staying illegally in India is a foreigner or not.
Empowers individuals to approach the Tribunals

Passport (Entry into India) Act, 1920

Empowered the government to make rules requiring persons entering India to be in possession of passports
Govt empowered to deport any person who entered without a passport

Person deemed to be of Indian Origin

If he or his parents or his grand parents are born in undivided India (3 generations)

In PIO Card/OCI card, 4 generations included

Persons of Indian Origin PIO 2002 - Not a ci tizen of India
Overseas Citizen of India OCI 2005 - Not a cit izen of India

Overseas Citizen of India Cardholder 2015

Citizenship (Amendment) Act 2015 replaced the Overseas Citizen of India with Overseas Citizenship of India Cardholder and PIO was rescinded w.e.f 9-1-2015 and all existing PIO holders will be deemed to be OCI cardholders
Registration of OCI Cardholder

Same as that of OCI
GOI may specify the date from which the existing persons of Indian Origin card holders shall be deemed to be overseas citizens of India cardholders
Notwithstanding anything contained in point 1, GOI in special circumstances register a person as OCI Cardholder

Conferment of rights

Shall be entitled to such rights as GOI may specify in this behalf

Renunciation

If OCI cardholder make a declaration renouncing the card and upon registration of declaration, person shall cease to be an OCI cardholder
Where a person ceases to be OCI cardholder, spouse of foreign origin of that person who is also OCI cardholder and minor child of that person who are OCI cardholders shall thereupo ceases to be an OCI cardholder

Cancellation

GOI may cancel the registration of a person as an OCI cardholder if it is satisfied that

Registration obtained by means of fraud or
Shown disaffection to constitution of India or
During war, unlawfully traded or communicated with enemy or
Within 5 years of registration as OCI cardholder, been sentenced to imprisonment for a term not less than 2 years or
It is necessary to do in the interests of sovereignty or integrity, security of India, friendly relations with any other country or in the interests of general public
Marriage has been dissolved by a competent court of law or otherwise or has not been dissolved but, during the subsistence of such marriage, he has solemnized marriage with any other person

As per Citizenship Act, a person registered as OCI cardholder is eligible for grant of Indian Citizenship if he is holding OCI cardholder for 5 years and is ordinarily resident in India for 12 months before making an application [PIO - 7 years]
Benefits

Can visit India without Visa for life time for any purpose

However, require special permission to undertake research work from Indian Mission/Post/FRRO Foreigners Regional Registration Officer concerned.

Parity with NRIs in respect of all facilities available to them in economic, financial, educational fields except in matters of acquisition of agricultural or plantation properties

Parity in entry fees charged for visiting national monuments, historical sites, museums in India

Part 2 - Citizenship