HOW NPR AND NRC IS RELATED WITH CAA Shefali Tiwari BASICS OF LAW Sat, Dec 28, 2019, at ,09:09 PM Citizenship Law in India Article-5-9: of Indian constitution deals with citizenship at the time of independence. Article 11 : Parliament to regulate the right of citizenship by law. Citizenship Of India Act,1955 How one can become Indian Citizen? Constitution of India did not codify permanent laws for citizenship and put this onus on parliament. Using the powers of article 10 and 11, the parliament enacted Citizenship Act 1955 which has been amended from time to time. This act mentions four ways in which a person may be Indian citizen viz. by birth, by descent, by registration and by naturalization. Citizenship by birth and descent are called natural citizens.This act deals with the provision of Acquiring and Loss of citizenship. The Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 Recently, the Parliament passed the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill 2019 which received the President’s assent to become an Act. The Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 seeks to amend the Citizenship Act, 1955.The Citizenship Act,1955 provides various ways in which citizenship may be acquired. It provides for citizenship by birth, descent, registration, naturalisation and by incorporation of the territory into India Key Provisions of the Amendment Act The Bill amends the Act to provide that the Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan, who entered India on or before December 31, 2014, will not be treated as illegal migrants. The Bill creates an exception for Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan, with regard to this qualification. For these groups of persons, the 11 years’ requirement will be reduced to five years. What is NPR? NPR means the "National Population Register", which has its base in the rules framed by the Central Government under the Citizenship Act,1955 in 2003 called the Citizenship (Registration of Citizens and Issue of National Identity Cards) Rules, 2003. Incidentally, these are the same rules which gives legal framework for National Register of Indian Citizens as well. Rule 2(l) of these Rules define 'Population Register' as :"Population Register means the register containing details of persons usually residing in a village or rural area or town or ward or demarcated area (demarcated by the Registrar General of Citizen Registration) within a ward in a town or urban area". Who is usual resident of India A usual resident is defined, for the purposes of the NPR, as a person who has resided in a local area for the past six months or more, or a person who intends to reside in that area for the next six months. The law compulsorily seeks to register every citizen of india and issue a national identity card. Who prepares the NPR? The preparation of the NPR is carried out under the aegis of the Central Government. Under Rule3(4) of the 2003 Citizenship Rules, the Central Government can decide the date by which the NPR should be prepared. The data for National Population Register was first collected in 2010 along with the house listing phase of Census of India 2011. The updating of this data was done during 2015 by conducting door to door survey. On July 31, 2019, the Union Ministry of Home Affairs issued the gazette notification for starting the information collection for NPR throughout the country (except Assam) between April 1, 2020 to September 30, 2020. The Registrar General, India acts as the National Registration Authority for NPR. Incidentally, the same officer also functions as the Registrar General of Citizen Registration for NRC. WHAT INFORMATION WILL BE COLLECTED UNDER NPR The objective of the NPR is to create a comprehensive identity database of every usual resident in the country. The database would contain demographic particulars such as: Name, Relationship to head of household, Father's name, Mother's name ,Spouse's name (if married), Sex, Date of birth and Marital status etc. HOW IS NPR DIFFERENT THAN CENSUS While the process of NPR and Census will begin simultaneously, the two databases are not same. The decennial census is the largest single source of a variety of statistical information on different characteristics of the people of India. While NPR only contains demographic information, more details are required for census like information on demography, economic activity, literacy and education, and housing and household amenities besides others.The census is the basis for reviewing the country's progress in the past decade, monitoring the ongoing schemes of the government and plan for the future. Is there any link between NPR and NRC? A bare reading of 2003 Rules reveals that NPR lays the foundation for NRC.The NRC will contain the details of the persons after "due verification made from" the NPR. This is clear from Rule 3(5), which says : "(5) The Local Register of Indian citizens shall contain details of persons after due verification made from the Population Register". For making NRC, the particulars entered in the NPR is first verified by the Local Register of Citizens as per Rule 4(3). Following this verification, the NRC is finalized, after removing 'doubtful citizens'. The Rules give power to the Local Register to mark 'doubtful citizens' after the verification of NPR particulars. Rule 4(4) says: "During the verification process, particulars of such individuals, whose Citizenship is doubtful, shall be entered by the Local Registrar with appropriate remark in the Population Register for further enquiry and in case of doubtful Citizenship, the individual or the family shall be informed in a specified proforma immediately after the verification process is over." The 'doubtful citizens' are given an opportunity of hearing before removal. After that, a draft NRC for the local area is published. People are granted even opportunity to raise objections against inclusions in the NRC. Following this, the final NRC is published. It is also pertinent to note that both NPR and NRC are under the same office (The Registrar General of India functions as the Registrar General of citizen registration). HOW IS NPR DIFFERENT THAN NRC National Population Register is a database of people living in India, citizens or not, but National Resgiter of Citizens is a database of Indian citizens. The NRC process demands proof of citizenship from the respondents. Those who found in what of the proof may face deportation or detention in long run. But in NPR, there is no need to provide any document. Home Minister Amit Shah to ANI: There is no link between National Register of Citizens (NRC) and National Population Register (NPR). WILL ANYONE LOSE CITIZENSHIP BECAUSE OF NPR "It is possible that some names are missed in the NPR, still their citizenship will not be revoked because this is not the process of NRC. The NRC is a different process. I want to make it clear that nobody will lose citizenship because of NPR," Amit Shah said. IS NPR THE FIRST STEP FOR NRC? It is not necessary that NPR will lead to NRC. As stated above, NPR was first made in 2010 and updated in 2015. This was not followed by NRC. However, the preparation of an NRC as per the 2003 Rules can be done only after NPR. So, NPR is a necessary pre-condition for NRC. Several statements of the government, as made in press releases, replies in Parliament and documents of Census department, indicate that NPR 2020 is intended as the first step for NRC. There are reports that the questionnaire for the 2020 NPR is different from the 2010 NPR. The 2020 NPR 'Schedule' asks about details of date of birth and place of birth of one's parents, in addition to the details sought in the 2010 NPR(mentioned above). The citizenship status of one's parents is a is a determining factor for citizenship by birth after the 1987 and 2003 amendments to Citizenship Act 1955. This could be an additional factor showing a nexus between NPR and a possible NRC. How is NRC related to CAA? The proposed nationwide NRC, which till now remains just a proposal, if implemented will target illegal immigrants in India. But Hindus, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhist, Jains and Parsis coming from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh won't be affected, if they claim they have arrived in India after fleeing religious persecution. This essentially means if a nationwide NRC comes in as proposed, any illegal immigrant from nations other than Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh, will be affected. Moreover, many also fear that Indian Muslims may be deemed illegal immigrants if they are unable to furnish adequate proof of citizenship as they are not included in the Citizenship Amendment Act. What has the government said about linking CAA to NRC? As of now, the government has vehemently denied the use of the CAA for the updation of the NRC. Union Home Minister Amit Shah said the National Register of Citizens (NRC), carried out in Assam, was not a religion-based exercise. "Whoever is not eligible to be included in the NRC will be sent out of the country," he said in response to a question at the 'Agenda Aaj Tak' program. Asked about his declaration that the government was going to implement the NRC across the country, the home minister said that "bonafide Indian citizens" should have no fear. "No Indian will be sent out of the country. I want to tell the minorities that special facility will be made for them and also other people (for the NRC). But I also want to ask should we keep our borders open for illegal immigrants?" Home minister Amit Shah said. "Whenever the NRC will come, no person of the minority community will face injustice but no infiltrator will be spared," Shah said.Even Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said, "NRC hasn't been finalised yet. There is no question of joining CAA with NRC as the draft is yet to be completed." Will the CAB bill affect Muslims? The Home Ministry clarified that the Citizenship amendment act (CAA) will not affect any Indian citizen, including Muslims. The Ministry seeking to counter false claims and misinformation on the issue stated that all Indian citizens including Muslims enjoy the fundamental rights conferred by the Indian Constitution. Why does CAA only include non-Muslim minorities? The CAA is applicable only to the Hindu, Buddhist, Sikh, Jain, Christian and Parsi minorities from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh, who faced persecution on the basis of their religion. Only those minorities will gain benefit from the law who entered India on or before December 31, 2014. The law does not apply to any other foreigners including Muslims, migrating to India from any other country. Will illegal Muslim immigrants from the three countries be deported back under CAA? The Home Ministry clarified that the CAA does not have anything to do with the deportation of any foreigner from India, irrespective of religion. The deportation process of a foreigner is implemented in India under the Foreigners Act, 1946 and the Passport (Entry into India) Act, 1920. The Ministry reiterated that only these two laws govern the entry, stay and exit of all foreigners in India irrespective of their origin country or religion. Hence, the usual deportation process would continue to apply to any illegal foreigner staying in India. What is the process of deportation of a foreigner? The Ministry clarified that the deportation of any foreigner is done through a proper judicial process which includes a proper enquiry by the local police and concerned administrative authorities. The illegal foreigners are issued proper travel documents by the Embassy of their origin country so that they can be received by the officials thereafter deportation. Clarifying on the deportation of illegal immigrants from Assam, the Home Ministry stated that the deportation from Assam will only happen after a person is determined as a foreigner under the Foreigners Act, 1946. The process will not be automatic, mechanical or discriminatory. The Ministry stated that all state governments have the power to detect, detain and deport any illegal foreigner under section 3 of the Foreigners Act and section 5 of Passport (Entry into India) Act, 1920. Will Muslims from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan never get Indian citizenship? The Home Ministry clarified saying that the present legal process of acquiring Indian citizenship by any foreigner of any category through naturalisation or through registration will stay operational. The CAA does not amend or alter the process in any manner. The Ministry further stated that hundreds of Muslims migrating from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan have been granted Indian citizenship previously in the last few years. Similarly, all future migrants will be given Indian citizenship irrespective of their religion if found eligible. Can hindus facing persecution in other countries besides these three nations apply for indian citizenship under caa? The Home Ministry clarified that the Hindus facing religious persecution in any other country other than Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan will not be eligible to apply for Indian citizenship under the CAA. They will be required to apply through the usual legal process of acquiring Indian citizenship just like any other foreigner. Such people will not be getting any preference under the citizenship act. Will existing Indian citizens also need to apply for citizenship under CAA? The Ministry clarified that the CAA does not apply to any Indian citizen at all. The Home Ministry stated that all the citizens of India enjoy the fundamental rights and the CAA is not meant to deprive any Indian citizen of his citizenship. The Ministry stated that it is a special law that will enable certain foreigners facing religious persecution in three neighbouring countries to get Indian citizenship. Is there a link between the CAA and NRC? The Home Ministry clarified that the CAA has nothing to do with the NRC. The Ministry stated that the legal provisions of NRC have been a part of the Citizenship Act, 1955 since December 2004. There ate also specific statutory rules of 2003 to operationalise the legal provisions. The provisions govern the process of registration of Indian citizens Indian citizens and the issuance of national identity cards to them. The Ministry said that the CAA has not altered the legal provisions in any way and added saying that the appropriate rules under the CAA are being framed. What is the difference between CAB and NRC? CAB NRC CAB will provide Indian citizenship based on religion. NRC has nothing to do with religion. CAB likely to benefit non-Muslim immigrants. NRC is aimed at deportation of all illegal immigrants irrespective of their religions. CAB to grant citizenship to non-Muslim immigrants from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan. NRC Assam was aimed at identifying 'illegal immigrants', mostly from Bangladesh. CAB will grant citizenship to the religious minorities who entered India on or before December 31, 2014. NRC will include those who can prove that either they or their ancestors lived in India on or before March 24, 1971.