Context:
Chief Justice is heading a Constitution Bench hearing a series of petitions challenging the constitutionality of Section 6A of the Citizenship Act, 1955.
About National Register of Citizens (NRC):
- An official record of those who are legal Indian citizens.
- Identify migrants from erstwhile East Pakistan, now Bangladesh.
- Assam – Only state to have an NRC (at present)
- 1st prepared in 1951 and finally updated in 2019.
- NRC was updated as per provisions of –
- Citizenship Act, 1955
- Citizenship (Registration of Citizens and Issue of National Identity Cards) Rules, 2003.
Section 6A of Citizenship Act – Under it, foreigners who had entered Assam before January 1, 1966, would have all rights and obligations of Indian citizens.
- It includes persons whose names appear in any of the electoral rolls up to the midnight of 24th March 1971 or NRC, 1951, and their descendants.
- Its origin can be traced back to Assam Accord 1985.
- Non-inclusion of a person’s name in NRC does not by itself amount to him/her being declared a foreigner.
- Such individuals will have option to present their case before foreigners’ tribunals.
Assam Accord:
- Memorandum of Settlement (MoS) signed in New Delhi on 15 August 1985.
- Signed between – Government of India and the leaders of the Assam Movement
- Key demands –
- All those foreigners who had entered Assam between 1951 and 1961 were to be given full citizenship, including the right to vote.
- Those who had done so after 1971 were to be deported
- The entrants between 1961 and 1971 were to be denied voting rights for ten years but would enjoy all other rights of citizenship.
- Results –
- Brought an end to the Assam Agitation
- Paved the way for the leaders of the agitation to form a political party and form a government in the state
- Gave package for the economic development of Assam (a second oil refinery, a paper mill and an institute of technology etc.)
Source: The Hindu
Previous Year Question
With reference to India, consider the following statements:
1. There is only one citizenship and one domicile.
2. A citizen by birth only can become the Head of State.
3. A foreigner once granted the citizenship cannot be deprived of it under any circumstances.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
[UPSC Civil Services Exam – 2021 Prelims]
(a) 1 only
(b) 2 only
(c) 1 and 3
(d) 2 and 3
Answer: (a)
Explanation:
In India, both a citizen by birth as well as a naturalized citizen is eligible for the office of President while in the USA, only a citizen by birth and not a naturalized citizen is eligible for the office of President. Hence, Statement 2 is not correct.
The Citizenship Act, 1955, prescribes three ways of losing citizenship whether acquired under the Act or before it under the Constitution, viz, renunciation, termination, and deprivation. Hence, Statement 3 is not correct.
