Context:

• On November 20, 2019 the Union Home Minister, Mr. Amit Shah, answered a starred question in the Rajya Sabha thus: “Preparation of National Register of Indian Citizens (NRIC) is governed by the provisions of Section 14A of The Citizenship Act, 1955 and The Citizenship (Registration of Citizens and Issue of National Identity Cards) Rules 2003. Section 14A of the Citizenship Act, 1955 provides for compulsory registration of every citizen of India and maintenance of NRIC. The procedure to prepare and maintain NRIC is specified in The Citizenship (Registration of Citizens and Issue of National Identity Cards) Rules, 2003.”

Rules that authorise an NRIC

• Rule 11 states that the “Registrar General of Citizen Registration shall cause to maintain the National Register of Indian Citizen in electronic or some other form which shall entail its continuous updating on the basis of extracts from various registers specified under the Registration of Births and Deaths Act, 1969 and the [Citizenship] Act [1955].”
• Rule 4 places the responsibility to carry out a census-like exercise on the Central government and not on citizens. This deals with the “Preparation of the National Register of Indian Citizens” which provides that the Central Government shall carry out a “house-to-house enumeration for collection for particulars related to each family and Individual including the citizenship status”.
• Rule 6 provides that every individual must get himself/herself registered with the Local Registrar of Citizen Registrations during the period of initialisation (the period specified as the start date of the NRIC). Note that this does not begin with a non-obstante clause or words that give it overriding effect over all other clauses. What this means is that this rule is circumscribed by the other clauses in the Act.

Do you know?

NRC :The National Register of Citizens (NRC) is a register maintained by the Government of India containing names & certain relevant information for identification of Indian citizens First started in Assam state of India.

Who are illegal migrants?

• Migration of people into a country in violation of the immigration laws of that country, or the continued residence of people without the legal right to live in that country.

What is the Passport Act?

• The Passport (Entry into India) Act, 1920, was one of the early set of rules made against illegal migrants, 
• It empowered the government to make rules requiring persons entering India to be in possession of passports. 
• It also granted the government the power to remove from India any person who entered without a passport. 
• The concept of “burden of proof” was introduced in Foreigners Act, 1940. 
• Section 7 of the Act provided that whenever a question arose with regard to the nationality of a person, the onus of proving that he was not a foreigner lay upon the person.

When was the Foreigners Act made more stringent?

• The legislature enacted the Foreigners Act, 1946, by repealing the 1940 Act.
• It conferred wide powers to deal with all foreigners. 
• It empowered the government to make provisions for prohibiting, regulating or restricting the entry of foreigners into India.
• It also restricted the rights enjoyed by foreigners in terms of their stay in the country if any such orders are passed by the authority. 
• The 1946 Act empowered the government to take such steps as are necessary, including the use of force for securing compliance with such directions.
• The ‘burden of proof’ lies with the person, and not with the authoritiesis still applicable in all States and Union Territories. 
• This has been upheld by a Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court.

What about the Foreigners (Tribunals) Order?

• In 1964 the Foreigners (Tribunals) Order was brought in. 
• The tribunal has the authority to decide whether a person is a foreigner within the ambit of the Foreigners Act, 1946. 
• The tribunal has powers similar to those of a civil court.
• It gives reasonable opportunity to the person alleged to be a foreigner to produce evidence in support of his case, before passing its order.
• In June this year, the Home Ministry made certain amendments in the Foreigners (Tribunals) Order, 1964. 
• It was to empower 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.

Why did the IMDT Act fail?

• The Illegal Migrants (Determination by Tribunals) Act, 1983, was also referred to as the IMDT Act.
• It was introduced for the detection and deportation of illegal migrants who had entered India on or after March 25, 1971.
• It was unsuccessful.
•  One factor for its failure was that it did not contain any provision on ‘burden of proof’ similar to the Foreigners Act, 1946. 
• This put a very heavy burden upon the authorities to establish whether a person is an illegal migrant.
• The result of the IMDT Act was that a number of non-Indians who may have entered Assam after March 25, 1971 without possession of valid documents, continue to reside in Assam. 
• Iin the Supreme Court landmark verdict on a petition by Sarbananda Sonowal (now the Chief Minister of Assam), challenging the IMDT Act in 2005 the top court quashed the IMDT Act.
• The verdict also closed all tribunals in Assam functioning under the Act. 
• It transferred all pending cases at the IMDT tribunals to the Foreigners Tribunals constituted under the Foreigners (Tribunals) Order, 1964.
• Any person excluded from the National Register of Citizens (NRC) recently concluded in Assam can approach The Foreigners Tribunals, established only in Assam, within 120 days of receiving a certified copy of rejection.
• In other States, a person suspected to be a foreigner is produced before a local court under the Passport Act, 1920, or the Foreigners Act, 1946.