GS-2: Indian Constitution—Historical Underpinnings, Evolution, Features, Amendments, Significant Provisions and Basic Structure.

Key phrases:  Citizenship, Citizenship Amendment Act, NRC, NPR.

Why in news:

More than six lakh Indians renounced citizenship in the past five years, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) recently informed the Lok Sabha. This year, till September 30, 1,11,287 Indians gave up their citizenship.

Analysis:

Citizenship can be defined as a relationship between an individual and a state to which he or she owes loyalty and is thus protected by the law. Citizenship entails a state of liberty with attendant duties. The Indian constitution provides for single citizenship. Articles 5-11 of our constitution deal with provisions related to citizenship.

Constitutional provisions:

1. Citizenship by domicile (Article 5):  A person who was born in India or either of the person’s parents was born in India or the person must have been an ordinarily resident in the territory of India for not less than five years immediately before the commencement of the constitution. Domicile of a person is in that country in which the person either has or is deemed by law to have his/her permanent house.
2. Citizenship of migrants to India from Pakistan (Article 6):  Persons who have migrated from Pakistan to India have been classified into two categories: i) those who came to India before July 19, 1948, and ii) those who came on or after July 19, 1948. In the case of persons migrating before July 19, 1948, if the person has been ordinarily residing in India since the date of her migration, and in case of a person migrating on or after July 19, 1948, if he/she has been registered as a citizen of India, after residing for at least six months immediately before the date of applying for registration, by an officer appointed by the government of India, shall be deemed to be a citizen of India.
3. Citizenship of migrants of Pakistan (Article 7): If a citizen of India has migrated to Pakistan after March 1, 1947, but returned to India on the basis of permit for resettlement in India, the person is entitled to become a citizen of India if he/she registers herself as a citizen of India, after residing for at least six months immediately before the date of applying for registration, by an officer appointed by the government of India.
4. Citizenship of persons of Indian origin residing outside India (Article 8): Indian nationals (whose parents or any grandparents were born in India as defined in the Government of India Act, 1935) residing abroad shall be conferred Indian citizenship, as if they have been registered by the diplomatic or consular representatives of India in the country where they are residing
5. Person voluntarily acquiring citizenship of a foreign State not to be citizens (Article9)
6. Article 10 Continuance of the rights of citizenship:  Every person who is or is deemed to be a citizen of India under any of the foregoing provisions of this Part shall, subject to the provisions of any law that may be made by Parliament, continue to be such citizen.
7. Article 11: The Indian Constitution provides the power to the parliament under Article 11 to make laws and regulations about citizenship. Thus the Parliament passed the Citizenship Act in 1955.

Citizenship Act, 1955, has been amended from time to time, like in 1986, 1987, 1992, 2003, 2005, 2015, 2016, and most recently in 2019.

The five ways to acquire Indian Citizenship

• By Birth: Every person born in India on or after 26.01.1950 but before 01.07.1987 is an Indian citizen irrespective of the nationality of his/her parents. Every person born in India between 01.07.1987 and 02.12.2004 is a citizen of India given that either of his/her parents is a citizen of the country at the time of his/her birth. Every person born in India on or after 3.12.2004 is a citizen of the country given both his/her parents are Indians or at least one parent is a citizen and the other is not an illegal migrant at the time of birth.
• By Registration: Citizenship can also be acquired by registration. Some of the mandatory rules are: A person of Indian origin who has been a resident of India for 7 years before applying for registration. A person of Indian origin who is a resident of any country outside undivided India. A person who is married to an Indian citizen and is ordinarily resident for 7 years before applying for registration. Minor children of persons who are citizens of India.
• By Descent: A person born outside India on or after January 26, 1950 is a citizen of India by descent if his/her father was a citizen of India by birth. A person born outside India on or after December 10, 1992, but before December 3, 2004 if either of his/her parent was a citizen of India by birth. If a person born outside India or after December 3, 2004 has to acquire citizenship, his/her parents have to declare that the minor does not hold a passport of another country and his/her birth is registered at an Indian consulate within one year of birth.
• By Naturalisation: A person can acquire citizenship by naturalisation if he/she is ordinarily resident of India for 12 years (throughout 12 months preceding the date of application and 11 years in the aggregate) and fulfils all qualifications in the third schedule of the Citizenship Act.
• By Incorporation of territory: If any territory becomes a part of India, the Central Government may, by order notified in the Official Gazette, specify the persons who shall be citizens of India by reason of their connection with that territory.

The Citizenship Act, 1955 also lays down the three modes by which an Indian citizen, whether a citizen at the commencement of the Constitution or subsequent to it, may lose his/her citizenship. It may happen in any of the three ways: renunciation, termination and deprivation.

1. By Renunciation: A person may voluntarily renounce the citizenship of India.

2. By Termination: If a person acquires citizenship of another country, then the citizenship of India gets terminated.

3. By Deprivation: In case a person has acquired citizenship fraudulently, or is disloyal to the constitution, or helps an enemy in war or within five years of the process of naturalization has been imprisoned for two years, or ordinarily resides outside for seven years.

The Act does not provide for dual citizenship or dual nationality. 

National Register of Citizens (NRC)

• The National Register of Citizens (NRC) is a register of all Indian citizens whose creation is mandated by the 2003 amendment of the Citizenship Act, 1955. 
• Its purpose is to document all the legal citizens of India so that the illegal immigrants can be identified and deported.
• The Supreme Court had monitored the exercise of updating the NRC of 1951 in Assam. About 19.06 lakh out of 3.3 crore applicants were excluded from the updated draft.
• The importance of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) is integral for India. It provides a clear cut demarcation of who qualifies to be an Indian citizen from other nationals who have been illegally living in India.

National Population Register (NPR)

• The NPR is a register of the usual residents of the country. It contains information collected at the local (village/sub-town), sub district, district, state and national level under provisions of the Citizenship Act, 1955 and the Citizenship (Registration of Citizens and Issue of National Identity Cards) Rules, 2003.
• According to the Citizenship Rules framed in 2003, the NPR is the first step towards compilation of the National Register of Indian Citizens (NRIC) or NRC. 
• NPR is not a citizenship enumeration drive, as it would record even a foreign national staying in a locality for more than six months. 
• This makes NPR different from the NRC, which includes only Indian citizens while seeking to identify and exclude non-citizens.
• It is mandatory for every “usual resident of India” to register in the NPR. 
• Only Assam will not be included (as per a notification by the Registrar General of India in August), given the recently completed NRC in that state.

India's Citizenship (Amendment) Act 2019

• In December 2019, the Indian Parliament passed the Citizenship (Amendment) Act 2019. The Act amended the law to fast-track citizenship for religious minorities, specifically Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians, from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan who entered India prior to 2015.
• The CAA passed in 2019 seeks to grant Indian citizenship to six undocumented communities that came to India till December 31, 2014.
• The only way CAA could have helped the legal minority migrants is in fast-tracking their applications as it reduced the mandatory requirement of 11 years aggregate stay in India to five for citizenship.
• Citizenship is a Central subject and the Home Ministry periodically delegates powers to States through gazette notification under Section 16 of the Citizenship Act, 1955. 

Way forward

The Government can address the procedural bottlenecks related to National Register of Indian Citizens (NRIC) at national level. Also, India being a welfare state, the concerns of impacted sections of population should be duly addressed.

Source: The Hindu

Prelims Question:

Q. Which of the following is/are correct about granting citizenship to foreigners in India?

1. The Home Secretaries of Punjab (except Jalandhar) and Haryana (except Faridabad) have also been given the powers to grant citizenship after following due procedures under Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) 2019.
2. District Collectors do not have any power to grant citizenship under any circumstances.

Which of the statements given above are correct?

(a) Both 1 and 2 

(b) 2 only

(c) 1 only

(d) Neither 1 nor 2

Answer: (c)

Mains Question:

Q. What are the causes and consequences of high net worth individuals (HNIs) leaving India to acquire citizenship of other countries? Can they be a diplomatic asset for India?  (15 Marks, 250 Words)