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The Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA): Govt ready with rules for CAA

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Why in News?

  • According to the government sources, Rules for the Citizenship (Amendment) Act 2019 will be notified much before the announcement of the Lok Sabha elections.

What’s in Today’s Article?

  • The Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) 2019
  • Reasons for the Delay in the Implementation of the CAA
  • Counterclaims in Response to the Petitions Against CAA
  • Rules for the CAA

The Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) 2019:

  • About:
    • The Act seeks to amend the definition of illegal immigrant for Hindu, Sikh, Parsi, Buddhist, Jains and Christian (but not Muslim) immigrants from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh, who have lived in India without documentation.
    • They will be granted fast track Indian citizenship in 5 years (11 years earlier).
    • The Act (which amends the Citizenship Act 1955) also provides for cancellation of Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) registration where the OCI card-holder has violated any provision of the Citizenship Act or any other law in force.
  • Who is eligible?
    • The CAA 2019 applies to those who were forced or compelled to seek shelter in India due to persecution on the ground of religion. It aims to protect such people from proceedings of illegal migration.
    • The cut-off date for citizenship is December 31, 2014, which means the applicant should have entered India on or before that date.
    • The act will not apply to areas covered by the Constitution’s sixth schedule, which deals with autonomous tribal-dominated regions in Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura, and Mizoram.
    • Additionally, the act will not apply to states that have an inner-line permit regime (Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland and Mizoram).
  • Implementation of the law: The rules for implementation of the Act were never notified (and that is why the law can’t be implemented) and the government sought repeated extensions for framing the rules.

Reasons for the Delay in the Implementation of the CAA:

  • One of the prime reasons is the vociferous opposition faced by the CAA in several states including Assam and Tripura.
  • The protests in Assam were fuelled by fears that the legislation would permanently alter the demographics of the state.
    • The CAA is seen in Assam as a violation of the 1985 Assam Accord which allows foreign migrants who came to Assam after January 1, 1966 but before March 25, 1971 to seek citizenship.
    • The cut-off date for citizenship to be extended under the CAA is December 31, 2014.
  • The protests didn’t remain confined to the North-East, but spread to other parts of the country.
    • A clutch of petitions, including by the Indian Union Muslim League, are before the Supreme Court, challenging the constitutional validity of the CAA.
    • The petitioners have contended that the law is anti-Muslim, violating Article 14 (Right to Equality) of the Indian Constitution.
    • It is arbitrary as it leaves out the persecuted Rohingya of Myanmar, Tibetan Buddhists from China and Tamils from Sri Lanka.

Counterclaims in Response to the Petitions Against CAA:

  • The Centre said the basis of the “reasonable classification” made by the 2019 Act was not religion, but “religious discrimination” in neighbouring countries which are “functioning with a state religion”.
  • The Parliament, after taking cognizance of the said issues over the course of the past 7 decades, has taken into consideration the acknowledged class of minorities and has enacted the present amendment.
  • The CAA is a specific amendment which seeks to tackle a specific problem prevalent in the specified countries.
  • The legislation was not meant to be an omnibus solution to issues across the world.
    • The Indian Parliament cannot be expected to take note of possible persecutions that may be taking place across various countries in the world.

Rules for the CAA:

  • The rules are now ready and the online portal is also in place.
  • Once the rules are issued, the law can be implemented and those eligible can be granted Indian citizenship.
  • The entire process will be online and applicants can apply even from their mobile phones.
  • The applicants will have to declare the year when they entered India without travel documents. No document will be sought from the applicants.
  • Requests of the applicants, who had applied after 2014, will be converted as per the new rules.