Table of Contents
How India identifies citizens
▪ Indian citizenship can be acquired by birth, descent, registration and
naturalisation.
1. BIRTH
A person domiciled in India as on November 26, 1949 = CITIZEN
▪ Born in India after the Constitution came into effect, the Citizenship Act, 1955,
grants citizenship by birth based on birth dates.
✓ January 26, 1950 – July 1, 1987 = citizen by birth
✓ 1987 – 2004 = Citizen if either parents is a citizen
✓ 2004 onwards – Both parents are citizens or 1 is citizen and other is NOT illegal
migrant
2. Descent
3. Registration
• Persons of Indian origin who have lived in India for 7 years
• Persons married to a citizen and lived in India for 7 years
4. Naturalisation
Foreigner with no connection to India (marriage, descent etc) can become a
citizen of India
Stayed in India for 12 consecutive months preceding the date of application,
and for 11 years out of the preceding the 14 years.
How is Assam different? Why a separate National Register of Citizens?
MIGRATIONS – During British rule and after Independence
Two major waves of migration came after British rule :-
1. After Partition, from East Pakistan (now Bangladesh)
2. The aftermath of the liberation of Bangladesh in 1971.
1985 Assam Accord – illegal migrants were to be identified and deported
Clause 6A was inserted in the Citizenship Act with special provisions for
Assam.
What are those provisions of Clause 6A ?
2 cut-off dates — January 1, 1966 and March 25, 1971.
If someone entered Assam
1. Before 1966 – Citizen
2. Between 1966 and 1971 – Citizen , but voting rights after 10 years
3. After 1971 – NOT a citizen
Migrants who entered on any day between these two dates, and remained
there, would need to register with a Foreigners Tribunal.
For inclusion in NRC – applicants need to prove that they or their parents,
grandparents were citizens before March 25, 1971
What was the mechanism for identifying migrants earlier?
• 1983 – Illegal Migrants (Determination by Tribunal) Act, applicable only to
Assam
• 2005, the Supreme Court struck down IMDT Act
• 2016 – Citizenship (Amendment) Act to grant citizenship to religious
minorities (mostly Hindus and including other non-Muslims) from Pakistan,
Bangladesh and Afghanistan who took shelter in India.
• Protests in Assam
Similar Issues in
1. Arunachal Pradesh – citizenship to Chakmas Tribe has been pending for
decades.(Opposed By State Government )
2. In Kashmir, West Pakistan refugees are allowed to vote in national elections
but not in Assembly elections.
The missing 4,007,707
▪ GREY area / UNCHARTERED TERRITORY
▪ Can a democracy permit so many to be in a state of liminal (transitional)
legality?
▪ Bangladesh not on board – No bilateral agreement !!
▪ The NRC exercise will give definitive numbers of illegal immigrants – a
policy can be framed based upon that.
▪ SC – draft NRC can not be the basis of any coercive action against
anyone.
A tighter policy
Monetary Policy Committee of the RBI raised the repo rate, by 25 basis points,
to 6.5 %
Rise in headline inflation – Q2 – 4.6%
REASONS –
• Increase MSPs for kharif crops for the 2018-19 sowing season – impact on
food inflation
• Volatile crude oil prices and fiscal slippages both at the federal and state
levels.
Globally, many central banks have been on a tightening course — Philippines, Indonesia, Argentina, Brazil and Turkey
• Reason – $$ going up Could lowering of GST rates on 100 goods and services have a moderating impact on inflation??
IF firms pass on the benefits of lower rates to retail consumers .
Iran Besieged
Deliberate US policy of : Escalating tensions with Iran Targeting its economy Supporting Iranian opposition groups — all for the purpose of destabilising the Islamic regime.
▪ Oil consumers are to eliminate Iranian imports by November 4.
▪ Backing a militant group – MEK (Moujahedin-e Khalq)
▪ Regime change before 2020 ?
▪ Risk of Iranian Revolutionary Guards acquiring more extensive
powers after a military coup d’état.
▪ Israel and SA would want moderate govt of Iran to go.
▪ Economy at risk – Currency devaluation, rapidly rising prices for
meat, medicine and other consumer products
▪ This will have a bigger impact on ordinary Iranians than the Iran deal
The limp arm of the law
Limp = to move slowly and with difficulty
Phrase – ‘The long arm of the law’
The President of India accorded his assent to the Prevention of Corruption
(Amendment) Act, 2018, on July 26
One of the fundamental features of the amended act is Section 17A:-
❑ It bars an enquiry/investigation by any anti-corruption agency against a public
servant in matters relatable to the discharge of his official duties, without the
prior approval of the Centre/state government
❑ This provision would apply to all public servants, including the lowest rungs of
administration.
❑ For ministers + former ministers – prior approval of the President.
Similar provisions were made in Delhi Special Police Establishment Act 2003 –
Section 6A.
This provision was eventually declared null and void by the Supreme Court in
2014
Problems with Sec. 6A
1. Leakage of correspondence between the CBI and the central government
2. Inordinate delays in the response of the Centre to the requests of CBI to
accord approval to carry out investigations
• Section 6A applied only to CBI cases + J.S. above officers
• But Now Section 17A is applicable to all public servants — past and present
— and to all anti-corruption agencies (CBI + state anti-corruption bureaux)
A former Chief Justice of India famously called the CBI a “caged parrot”.
❑ Quid pro quo is now required to be established to prove criminal misconduct
against a public servant –
Quid pro quo >> VERY HARD TO PROVE
❑ The amended law also provides for the completion of trial by a special judge
within a period of 2 years, extendable to four years in aggregate.
What will happen if a trial is not concluded in four years??
Conclusion
• The amended law is public servant-friendly
• Concentrates the decision-making power with the government in matters of
initiation of enquiries and investigations
• Powers of CBI and other agencies are diminished
• Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Act, 2018 might help some honest
public servants, but more than a few offenders will slip through the cracks.
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