ABSTRACT
This paper includes the agitation and protest which is caused after the enactment of The Citizenship Act,2019, this Act was brought up for the amendment of The Citizenship Act, 1955. There are some changes which were brought up by this act of 2019 which acted as a fuel to the fire on the ongoing situation and riots in the country. after the partition, the concept of citizenship became very complicated and to solve this problem, The Citizenship Act, 1955 was enacted. It regulated the citizenship of India by five different ways i.e ,by Birth, by Descent, by Registration, by Naturalization and by Incorporating into the territory of India. After this act, it was amended six times i.e, 1986,1992,2003,2005,2015, and 2019. We will study the limitation and implications which was brought up by this act and will include the relevant cases related to this act.
KEYWORDS
Citizenship, religion, illegal migrants, agitation, discrimination.
INTRODUCTION
The article 5 to 11 under part III of the Indian constitution deal with the provisions of citizenship. In India, we follow single citizenship and there is no such provision of dual citizenship. Amendment is basically a modification of constitution by the changes brought up in the form of bill in the parliament and after being passed by both the parties, and the assent of the President, it becomes an act. In India, we follow single citizenship and there is no such provision of dual citizenship. After the partition, there was chaos created in the country due to the migration taking place and at this time ‘The citizenship act was the need of the hour.
So the first Citizenship Act was came in to force in 1955
- it regulated the citizenship by five different ways – by birth, descent, registration, naturalization and incorporation of territory
- it provides the provision of termination of citizenship.
- It provides the provisions for overseas citizenship
Further this act was amended from time to time to inculcate new changes in the act.
In 2003, the citizenship act was amended which defined the notion of ‘illegal migrants’ under section 2(1) (b) of the act. The term ‘illegal migrants’ were already defined in the citizenship act 1955 but in 2004 amendment act it disallows the citizenship by birth if either parent is an illegal migrant.
Citizenship Amendment Act, 2019
On 15 July 2016, the Citizenship (amendment) bill was bought up in parliament. The purpose of the bill was to lodge persons who belong to Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi or Christian communities from different countries- Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan into India and to fast tracking the procedure for grant of citizenship of such persons. On 11 august 2016, a motion was moved to the joint committee for the reference of the bill under the Chairmanship of Shri Rajendra Agrawal. The commit gave its approval and the report was present in Lok Sabha[1] and on 7th January it was laid down in the Rajya Sabha. While the bill was considered in Lok Sabha on 8th January, it was held pending in Rajya Sabha as the 16th Lok Sabha was dissolved, therefore the bill was lapsed. In the 17th Lok Sabha, the bill was once again introduced with a few changes on 9th December 2019. On 11th dec the Rajya Sabha also passed the bill and finally on 12th DEC 2019[2], the bill became an act with the assent of the President.
The changes introduced with this act were as follows :-
- Amendment of Section 2 of the Act
- Insertion of the new Section 6B
- Special proviso as to citizenship of person covered by proviso to Section 2 (1) (b)
- Amendment of Section 7D
- Amendment of the third schedule to the principal act in clause (d).
After the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 came into force, there arose a full- fledge protect on the new amendment; and,
There were arguments that it is sufficient to provide asylum to these refugees and that it is not necessary to confer citizenship on them.[3]
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Secondary sources like articles, websites, books and journals have been uses to receive information regarding the brief analysis of the Citizenship Amendment Act, 2019. A systematic method has been used for this research paper.
RIVIEW OF LITERATURE
Legality and Implications of CAA,2019
while presenting the bill in the parliament, the Central Government defended its bill by providing a Statement of Objects and Reasons, under this statement, they stated that the migration from the borders between the India and areas now under Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh is a ‘historical fact’.[4] And since the persons belonging to these religions from these three countries as mentioned in the proviso are unable to prove their Indian origin, so they do need a special regime for governing the matters relating to their citizenship.
Definition of ‘illegal migrants’
As the concept of illegal migrant was introduced in the Citizenship Amendment Act 2003, but now by the amendment of 2019, there were changes introduced by the exclusion of certain persons from it by the addition of proviso in Section 2(1) (b).
The new definition says, ‘Provided that any person belonging to Hindu, Sikh, Budhhist, Jain, Parsi or Christian community from three different countries, who entered into India on or before 31st day of December, 2014 and all those who has been exempted by the Central Government by or under clause (c) of sub- section (2) of section 3 of the Passport (Entry into India) Act, 1920 or from the application of the provisions of the Foreigners Act, 1946 or any rule or order made there under, shall not be treated as illegal migrant for the purposes of this Act.’[5]
In the Amendment of 2015 only persons from Pakistan and Bangladesh were mention, but the CAA,2019 included the third country, i.e, Afghanistan.
Special proviso for Section 2(1) (b)
In the Amendment of CAA, a special proviso was introduced for the persons mentioned in the Section 2(1) (b) and this proviso provides that the minimum mandatory period for the aggregate residence has been reduced from eleven years to five years. Therefore, the Naturalization has been accelerated. [6]
Insertion of section 6B
According to this section, person who comes under the proviso of section 2(1) (b) can ask for an application for the grant of a certificate of registration or certificate of naturalization to the Central Government or any authority which it may specify [7], and once such a person has obtained the certificate of registration or of naturalization, he is deemed to be a citizen from the date of his entry. [8]
Amendment of Section 7D
By the Amendment of this section, some changes were made to the procedure regarding the overseas citizenship. After clause (f), the following proviso was inserted which says,
‘Provided that no order under this section shall be passed unless the Overseas Citizen of India Cardholder has been given a reasonable opportunity of being heard.’[9]
Amendment of the Third Schedule
In the third schedule, the qualification for the Natruralization has been listed, and the clause(d) put forward that during the fourteen years, the mandatory residence in India will be preceding twelve years.
And the person should have been either in the service of Indian Government or residing in India or both for not less than eleven years.
Criticism of Citizenship Amendment Act, 2019
- The CAA, 2019 was criticized for the discrimination been done through this act on the basis of religion, and it was not welcomed by the opposition parties and also by the Muslim population, this amendment acted as a fuel to the fire in the dispute between the Hindus and Muslims. The main criticism was that it is targeting Muslims specifically and it is discriminatory in nature as it grant citizenship on the basis of religion.[10]
- The CAA,2019 was criticized for violating the part III of the Indian Constitution, that is, Fundamental Rights, the question which was raised was that ‘why Muslim immigrant were not being given by the amendment?’ and it was stated that this amendment violates the article 14 of Fundamental Rights as this article stated ‘no persons’ which straight away implies that it will not be necessary to be an Indian citizen to enjoy the fundamental rights of equality in India.
- The Muslim community was most infuriated with this act, as they were excluded from the definition which was mention in the section 2 of CAA ,2019, as they started thinking that this amendment was made for the purpose of removal of the Muslim community from India and declaring the country as ‘Hindu Rashtra’.
- It was also argues that this amendment violate the article 25 and 26 of the Indian Constitution, as people will not be free to practice their own religion as in order to get the benefit granted by CAA,2019 they will be a possibility of forcefully converting to another religion.
SUGGESTIONS
First of all, there should by a transparency in the changes which were brought and the government should clearly mention the purpose of those changes which were made by the amendment and what is the aim of their amendment.
There should not be any reference of any specific religion in the amendment as it can by termed as inequality, the other minority group which were excluded will create rebel as they also come under the same roof.
In the future amendment, there should be swap of some provisions which were added in this amendment, so that it can give relief to those who are getting excluded from the benefits of this act.
CONCLUSION
The CAA,2019 brought new changes in the Citizenship Act, 1955. And with these changes there were the side of the coins, that is some were in favor and some were highly disappointed with this act. From the definition of the illegal migrant to the changes in the third schedule, there were many changes which were brought up in this act. There were protest against the implementation of this act, they included the six communities but excluded the Muslim community, which created the chaos in the country. therefore, with the publishing if this act, the whole country was divided into two groups, one who were in favor of this amendment and the second who were against.
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[1] see motion in Lok Sabha for reference bill to joint committee, Appendix I, Report of the joint committee on the Citizenship (Amendment) bill, 2016, at 84.
[2] Refer motion in Rajya Sabha for Reference Bill to Joint Committee, Appendix II, id., at 85.
[3] p.2, Dr. Narendra Nagerwal, Global implications of India’s Citizenship Amendment Act, 2019, Research Gate, Jan 2020
[4] Statement of Object and Reasons to the Citizenship Amendment Bill, 2019, para 3
[5] inserted by Section 2 of the Citizenship Amendment Act, 2019
[6] Amendment inserted by Section 6 of Citizen Amendment Act, 1955 in the Citizenship Amendment Act, 2019
[7] inserted by Section 6B(1) of Citizenship Amendment Act, 2019
[8] inserted by Section 6B(2) of Citizenship Amendment Act, 2019
[9] The Gazette of India, Extraordinary Part II – section 2
[10] Utkarsh kumar, ‘understanding the Citizenship (Amendment ) Act,2019 and its after effects’, www.legalserviceindia.com
REFERENCES
Webliography
www.indian kanoon.com
Document
The Gazette of India, Extraordinary, Jan 10 2020
Statutes/ Rules
The Citizenship Amendment Act, 1955
The Citizenship Amendment Act, 2019
The Constitution Of India
- By Anshul soni , Lloyd Law College