OBJECTIVE The objective of the webinar shall be to provide a sense of all the commotion around the Citizenship Amendment Act, 2019, its relationship to the Assam Accord and the National Register of Citizens(NRC). In the first part, the webinar traces the evolution of the Citizenship laws in India while providing special focus on the changes envisaged by the Citizenship Amendment Act, 2019. In the second part, it discusses the Assam Accord and its implementation with respect to the NRC. The webinar concludes with the proposed nationwide NRC and its link with National Population Register.

1. UNDERSTANDING THE CITIZENSHIP
(AMENDMENT) ACT 2019,
ASSAM ACCORD AND NATIONAL
REGISTER OF CITIZENS
CA Divakar Vijayasarathy

2. Credits and
Acknowledgments
GV Athvaidh
Deepika S
CA Jugal Narendra Gala

3. LEGENDS USED IN THE PRESENTATION
CAA Citizenship Amendment Act
NRC National Register of Citizens
NPR National Population Register
OCI Overseas Citizen of India
OIC Organization of Islamic Cooperation

4. PRESENTATION SCHEMA
Citizenship :
Meaning &
Constitutional
Provisions
The Citizenship Act,
1955 : Features
The Citizenship
(Amendment) Act,
2019
Probable
Constitutional
Challenges
Assam Movement
and Assam Accord
Relationship
between CAA and
Assam Accord
NRC NPR
Connection
between NPR and
NRC

5. CITIZENSHIP AMENDMENT ACT 2019
• Citizenship – Meaning and Constitutional Provisions
• The Citizenship Act, 1955
• Acquisition of Citizenship under The Citizenship Act, 1955
• Definition of illegal immigrant before amendment
• Changes made by Citizenship Amendment Act, 2019
• Probable Constitutional Challenges

6. CITIZENSHIP
CITIZENSHIP IS THE RIGHT TO HAVE RIGHTS
• Citizenship means the relationship between individual and state.
• Citizens enjoy all civil and political rights like voting rights, right to hold property, etc.
CONSTITUTIONAL PROVISIONS
• Articles 5-10 of the Constitution mainly deal with citizenship rights at the time of partition
• Article 11 empowers Parliament to make any provision with respect to the acquisition and
termination of citizenship and all matters relating to it.
• Accordingly, the Indian Parliament enacted the Citizenship Act 1955.

7. THE CITIZENSHIP ACT, 1955
• The Act provides for the acquisition and determination of Indian citizenship.
• It contains provisions regarding acquisition of citizenship, overseas citizenship, termination of
citizenship and other supplemental provisions.
ACQUISITION OF CITIZENSHIP UNDER THE
CITIZENSHIP ACT, 1955
• By Birth
• By Descent (Parentage)
• By Registration
• By Naturalisation

8. BY BIRTH
PERSON BORN IN INDIA CITIZENSHIP STATUS BY BIRTH
From 26th January 1950 to 30th June 1987 Indian citizen irrespective of the nationality of
his/her parents.
From 01st July 1987 to 02nd December 2004 Indian citizen if either of his/her parents is a
citizen of the country at the time of his/her
birth.
On or after 03rd December 2004 Indian Citizen if 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.

9. 2. BY DESCENT (Parentage)
PERSON BORN OUTSIDE INDIA CITIZENSHIP STATUS BY DESCENT
From 26th January 1950 to 9th December 1992 Indian citizen if his/her father was a citizen of
India by birth.
From 10 December 1992 to 2nd December 2004 Indian citizen if either of his/her parent was a
citizen of India by birth.
On or after 03rd December 2004 Indian Citizen if parents declare that the
minor(below 18 years) does not hold a passport
of another country and his/her birth is
registered at an Indian Consulate within one
year of birth.

10. 3. BY REGISTRATION
Eligibility for Registration
• A person of Indian origin residing in India for 7 years.
• A person of Indian origin who is a resident of any country outside undivided India(before
Partition).
• A person who is married to an Indian citizen and is ordinarily resident for 7 years.
• Minor children(below 18 years) of persons who are citizens of India.

11. 4. BY NATURALISATION
Naturalisation is the legal process by which a non-citizen
may acquire citizenship of a country.
He/she must have resided in India for at least 11 out of 14
years preceding the application for naturalization and 12
months immediately preceding the date of application.
Non-citizen must also fulfill the qualifications in the Third
Schedule of the Citizenship Act such as good character,
renunciation of previous citizenship of another country.
Illegal Immigrants cannot get citizenship by way of
naturalisation
This was added in by The Citizenship (Amendment) Act of
2003 by the Government led by Honourable Late Prime
Minister Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

12. Section 2(1)(b) - DEFINITION OF ILLEGAL
IMMIGRANT BEFORE AMENDMENT
“Illegal migrant” is a foreigner who has entered into India
Without valid passport or other travel
documents
With a valid passport or other travel
documents but remains therein beyond the
permitted period of time
OR
Illegal Immigrants can be detained, deported at the discretion of the Govt.

13. 1. INSERTION OF PROVISO TO DEFINITION OF ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT UNDER SECTION 2(1)(b)
Any person belonging to Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi or Christian community from
Afghanistan, Bangladesh or Pakistan will not be treated as an illegal immigrant if he/she entered
India on or before December 31, 2014 and who has been exempted by the Central Government
under Section 3(2)(c) of the Passport (Entry into India) Act, 1920 or from the application of the
provisions of the Foreigners Act, 1946.
CHANGES MADE BY CITIZENSHIP AMENDMENT
(ACT), 2019
2. AMENDMENT OF THIRD SCHEDULE I.E. QUALIFICATIONS OF NATURALIZATION
The amendment relaxes period of stay to qualify for naturalisation from 11 years to 5 years
for a person belonging to Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi or Christian community from
Afghanistan, Bangladesh or Pakistan.

14. 3. INSERTION OF SECTION 6B (GRANT OF CERTIFICATE OF REGISTRATION)
Central Government can grant a certificate of naturalization and a person who is granted the
certificate of registration or certificate of naturalization shall be deemed to be a citizen of India
from the date of his/her entry into India and any pending citizenship proceedings against
him/her will stand abated effective the date of the amendment. However, the tribal area of
Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram or Tripura included in the Sixth Schedule to the Constitution and
the area covered under "The Inner Line" notified under the Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulation,
1873 are exempted.
4. AMENDMENT OF SECTION 7-D BY INSERTION OF SECTION 7-D(da) – GROUNDS OF CANCELLATION OF OCI CARD
If it is found that the Overseas Citizen of India Cardholder(OCI) has violated any of the
provisions of the Citizenship Act or provisions of any other law notified by the Central
Government, the registration as an OCI can be cancelled after giving him/her an opportunity of
hearing.

15. STATEMENT OF OBJECTS AND REASONS FOR THE
CITIZENSHIP (AMENDMENT) ACT, 20191
• Due to Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh having a state religion, persons belonging to
Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi and Christian communities have faced persecution on
grounds of religion.
• To provide a special regime to govern citizenship matters of the said illegal migrants who have
entered into India up to the cut of date of 31st December 2014 without valid travel
documents.
• To grant immunity to the migrant of the aforesaid Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi and
Christian communities so that any proceedings against them regarding in respect of their
status of migration or citizenship does not bar them from applying for Indian citizenship.
1. THE CITIZENSHIP (AMENDMENT) BILL, 2019, as introduced in Lok Sabha, can be accessed
at http://164.100.47.4/BillsTexts/LSBillTexts/Asintroduced/370_2019_LS_Eng.pdf

16. PROBABLE CONSTITUTIONAL CHALLENGE -
ARTICLE 14
“The State shall not deny to any person equality before the law or the equal
protection of the laws within the territory of India Prohibition of discrimination on
grounds of religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth”
Article 14’s essence is that similarly placed people should be
treated equally.
The benefit of Article 14 is available to citizens as
well as non-citizens.
The Honourable Supreme Court in Navtej Singh Johar & Ors. vs Union of India1 reaffirmed the
well-established test of reasonable classification under Article 14 i.e.
(a) There should be intelligible differentia (clear distinction) between groups by reason of
which they demand different treatments.
(b) The classification should have a nexus with the object of the law.
1. (2018) 10 SCC 1.

17. CAA VIS-À-VIS ARTICLE 14
• CAA confers some privileges to certain persecuted religious communities coming from select
countries while ignoring all other types of persecuted minorities. Persecution means oppression
and ill-treatment in a person’s country especially because of his race or political or religious
beliefs.
The probable constitutional challenge to CAA under Article 14 can be summed up as:
• Requirement of Nationality: is arbitrary because there is no apparent reason for selecting three
specific nations while leaving out other neighboring countries like Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Tibet, etc.
• Excludes other types of persecution: There are minorities who face other types of persecution
like ethnic or political persecution viz. Srilankan Tamils, Bhutanese Christians, Tibetan
Buddhists who demand equal concern. Rationale for choosing religious persecution specifically
as criteria for conferment of privileges is arbitrary.
• Excludes other persecuted religious communities : Furthermore, rationale for choosing only six
religious communities from three countries while leaving out other persecuted religious
minorities like Rohingyas from Myanmar, Shias, Balochis, Jews and Ahmeddis from Sunni-
majority Pakistan and Bangladesh.

18. CONCLUSION
Unequal treatment of persecuted
communities who are similarly placed.
Lacks intelligible differentia (reasonable
classification) – kinds of persecution,
selection of countries, selection of
particular religious communities.
Conferment of accelerated citizenship on
particular religious communities is
antithetical to secularism, which is part of
the basic structure of the Constitution.
The probable constitutional challenge to CAA can be summed up as follows:

19. THE ASSAM ACCORD AND NRC
•Assam Accord- Meaning and Purpose
•The Assam Movement
•Features of the Accord
•Assam Accord and CAA
•NRC-Process and Outcome in Assam
•Nationwide NRC
•NRC and NPR

20. MEANING AND PURPOSE
2. Clause 1 of the Accord
The Assam Accord is a
Memorandum of Settlement
Signed between the
Government of India and the
Leaders of the Assam
Movement
Signed on 15th August 1985
Statement of Object - “To find
a satisfactory solution to the
problem of foreigners in
Assam” 2
Impact of Assam Accord-
Brought an end to the Assam
Movement and paved the way
for its leaders to enter the
democratic process by
forming a political party.

21. ASSAM MOVEMENT
3. AAGSP- All Assam Gana Sangram Parishad
Spontaneous popular movement against illegal immigrants in Assam.
Lasted six years from 1979-1985
Led by the AASU (All Assam Students’ Union) and the AAGSP3
Mass protests, demonstrations and some instances of violence
Reason for the Protests- Protestors felt that continuing influx of immigrants from Bangladesh was a
threat to their Assamese identity and culture
Purpose - To compel the Central Government to:
(1)Identify and expel illegal immigrants (2)Protect and provide constitutional, legislative and
administrative safeguards to the indigenous Assamese people

22. SALIENT FEATURES OF THE ASSAM ACCORD
I. Clause 5- “Foreigners Issue”
Persons who had come to Assam prior to 1st
January 1966
Shall be citizens
Foreigners who entered Assam after 1st January
1966 and up to 24th March 1971.
Shall be citizens on the expiry of 10 years from
the date of detection, provided they register
themselves in accordance with the provisions
of The Registration of Foreigners Act, 1939.
Foreigners who came to Assam on or after 25th
March 1971.
Detection, Deletion, Expulsion

23. II. CLAUSE 6- SAFEGUARDS
Constitutional, legislative and administrative safeguards to protect, preserve and promote the culture,
social, linguistic identity and heritage of the Assamese people
High level Committee set up for the implementation of Clause 6 to examine the effectiveness of actions
taken since 1985 to implement the Assam Accord.(6th January 2019)
The Assam Alienation of Land (Regulation) Act 1980 which restricts the acquisition of immovable
property by foreigners in Assam is strictly enforced.
The AASU proposed special provisions for Assam which restricts Non-Assamese Indians from
acquiring property in Assam along the lines of Article 35A for Kashmir and Articles 371A-G for other
Northeastern states.
However this proposal wasn’t included in the Accord.
III. CLAUSE 11 - RESTRICTING ACQUISITION OF IMMOVABLE PROPERTY BY FOREIGNERS

24. IMPACT OF ASSAM ACCORD
• The Assam Accord led to the leaders of the Assam Movement calling off the protests.
• It paved the way for the leaders of the Movement to successfully enter the democratic process
by forming a political party.
• It directed the Government to constitutional, legislative and administrative safeguards to
prevent demographic change in Assam and to preserve and promote the Assamese culture,
tradition and linguistic identity.
• The Government renewed its commitment for the speedy all round economic development of
Assam, so as to improve the standard of living of the people. Special emphasis was placed on
education and science and technology through establishment of national institutions.
• The security along the international border of Assam has been intensified.

25. RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE ASSAM ACCORD
AND THE CITIZENSHIP (AMENDMENT) ACT 2019
• In December 2019, The Citizenship (Amendment) Act has sparked huge
protests across India.
• While most of the protests in the mainland were against the exclusion of
foreign Muslims under the new Amendment Act, the protests in Assam
were due to fears of demographic change and destruction of Assamese
culture and tradition by this Amendment giving citizenship to Bangladeshi
migrants.
CAA Protests
• The people of Assam started mass protests after the Rajya Sabha passed
the Bill. Internet was shut down, curfews imposed and the Army was
deployed in the area. It was only through an order by the Gauhati HC
that mobile internet was restored in Assam on 19th December 2019.
Protests in Assam
• The Assamese protestors fear that the CAA will lead to lakhs of Hindus
from Bangladesh buying property is Assam, swamping indigenous
communities, burdening resources, becoming a powerful vote bank and
threatening their distinctive tradition, language and culture..
Reason for protests in
Assam

26. CONTENTIONS RAISED BY THE AASU
The AASU has approached the Supreme Court of India claiming that the CAA violates the
Assam Accord of 1985.
It is directly contrary to Clause 6
of the Accord which provides
safeguards to prevent mass
demographic changes in Assam.
The CAA dilutes the Assam
Accord
It goes against the 2007 UN
Declaration on the Rights of
Indigenous Peoples- “A country is
duty bound to protect indigenous
people from forceful assimilation
or destruction of their culture.”
It violates the secular fabric of
India enshrined in the
Constitution.

27. REACTION OF THE GOVERNMENT TO THE
PROTESTS
The Government denies any ulterior motives
• It maintains that the CAA is simply meant to provide citizenship to persecuted migrants from Pakistan,
Bangladesh and Afghanistan.
The Government has also cited Clause 6 of the Assam Accord to allay protests in the state.
• Honourable Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah have both assured the
Assamese people that the Government is totally committed to preserving language and culture of the
state as per Clause 6 of the Accord.
• The Government has reassured protestors in the Northeast that provisions of the CAA would not apply to
the tribal areas of Assam (The North Cachar Hills District, The Karbi Anglong District and The Bodoland
Territorial Areas District) as included in the Sixth Schedule to the Constitution.
• The Government has also reassured the protestors that there would be no linguistic domination by
Bengali speaking Hindus in Assam
Hence, there are different applications and interpretations of the Assam Accord when it comes to the CAA and
these differences are yet to be resolved. We will now discuss another important process called the NRC and
how it relates to the Assam Accord and the CAA.

28. NRC- NATIONAL REGISTER OF CITIZENS
National Register of Citizens
Register containing the
names of all Indian citizens.
Mandated by The
Citizenship Act of 1955
Has been implemented only
in Assam so far
There have been talks of a
Pan-India NRC

29. NRC IN ASSAM
Originally prepared in 1951
Meant to be updated as per the provisions of The Citizenship Act, 1955
NRC process in Assam was mandated and overseen by the Honourable Supreme Court after a
2013 Order in Assam Public Works vs Union of India5.
Actual process lasted from 2015-2019
Estimated to have employed 52,000 Government employees
Estimated cost: Over Rs.1200 crores
5.Writ Petition (Civil) No.274 of 2009

30. PROCESS
Submission
of
Documents
•Applicants had the option to present documents such as refugee registration certificate, LIC policy,
birth certificate, passport, citizenship certificate, etc.
•They also had to present documentary evidence that traces their lineage from their ancestor whose
name is included either in the first NRC in 1951 or in the 1971 electoral rolls
NRC list
released
•The Final NRC list is released with the names of all persons who were able to prove their citizenship
by presenting the appropriate documents
Appeal to
Foreigner's
Tribunals
•If a person’s name is not included in the NRC, this does not by itself mean that they’re a foreigner.
Such persons have an option to present their case to any of the 100 Foreigner's Tribunals set up for
this purpose.
•The Tribunals are presided over by Judges and Advocates.
Appeal to
Judiciary
•If they lose the case before the Tribunal, they may even move the High Court and then, the Supreme
Court
Detention
Centres
•Failing all this, such persons would be sent to detention centres

31. OUTCOME OF NRC IN ASSAM
The final updated NRC list in 2019 contained 31 million names out of the total 33 million population of
Assam. It left out about 1.9 Million applicants who now stand to be rendered stateless and sent to
detention centres if they cannot prove their case before the Foreigner's Tribunals.
Of the 1.9M left out of the NRC:
Bengali Hindus
Muslims
Local people and
Hindus from North
India
0.5 M
0.7M
0.7M

32. NATIONWIDE NRC
The Union Home Ministry had framed the rules for a nationwide NRC following the
Amendment to the Citizenship Act in 2003.
• These rules categorically state that officials of the Central Govt shall go house-house for
collecting specified particulars relating to each family, including citizenship status.
• These particulars have to be proved by the appropriate common documents like the voter
ID or the Aadhaar card. So the burden of proving citizenship in the nationwide NRC won’t
be that stringent as the NRC in Assam.
Current status of Nationwide NRC:
• The ruling party’s manifesto for the 2019 General elections includes the introduction of the
NRC in "other parts of the country" as a promise.
• Honourable Home minister Amit Shah had also previously said he will frame a nationwide
NRC by 2024 to detect illegal migrants.
• However on 22nd December 2019, following the nationwide anti-CAA protests, Prime
Minister Narendra Modi said that the Government had never considered a nationwide NRC.
• For now, the Government’s position on a nationwide NRC appears unclear.

33. NPR- NATIONAL POPULATION REGISTER
National Population Register
Register containing the
names of all residents of
India
Mandatory for every "usual
resident" of India to register
in the NPR.
“Usual resident” - A person
who has resided in a local
area for the past 6 months or
more or a person who
intends to reside in that area
for the next 6 months or
more.
Prepared under provisions of
The Citizenship Act, 1955
and The Citizenship
(Registration of Citizens and
Issue of National Identity
Cards) Rules, 2003.
In 2019, the Government has
allocated Rs.3,900 crore for
updation of the NPR
NPR will be carried out from
April to September 2020 in
all the states and union
territories except Assam.
No documents will be
required for NPR. Self-
declaration is enough for
data entry in the population
registrar.
The Government has said
that the NPR is not related to
the NRC.

34. INFORMATION COLLECTED IN THE NPR
Information was collected in the 2010 NPR
•Name of person
•Relationship to head of household
• Father's name
•Mother's name
•Spouse's name
• Sex
•Date of Birth
•Marital status
•Place of birth
• Nationality (As declared)
•Present address of usual residence
• Duration of stay at present address
• Permanent residential address
• Occupation
•Educational qualification.
New categories added to the 2020 NPR
•Aadhaar Number (Optional)
• Mobile Number
•Date & Place of Birth of Parents
• Place of Last Residence
•Passport Number (if Indian passport holder)
• Voter ID Card Number
•Permanent Account Number
•Driving Licence Number (If holder)
The addition of “Date and place of birth of parents” in the 2020 NPR is being viewed by the anti-
CAA/NRC protestors as an indirect or backdoor way of conducting the NRC.

35. CONNECTION BETWEEN NPR AND NRC
A bare reading of The Citizenship (Registration of Citizens and Issue of National Identity Cards)
Rules, 2003 reveals that NPR lays the foundation for NRC.
• The NRC will contain the details of the persons after "due verification made from" the NPR.
• This is clear from Rule 3(5), which says :
"(5) The Local Register of Indian citizens shall contain details of persons after due verification
made from the Population Register".
The Rules give power to the Local Register to mark 'doubtful citizens' after the verification of NPR
particulars.
• The Local Register will have the discretion to mark certain people as ‘doubtful’ if he/she is not
satisfied with their self-declaration or any other person raises objections to the self-
declaration .
• The 'doubtful citizens' are given an opportunity of hearing before removal.
It is not necessary that NPR may lead to NRC.
• NPR was first made in 2010 and updated in 2015. This was not followed by NRC.
• However, the preparation of an NRC as per The Citizenship Rules 2003 can be done only after
NPR. So, NPR is a necessary pre-condition for NRC, even though, it may not directly
tantamount to NRC
• The fact that the Government has expressed its intention to conduct a nationwide NRC
combined with the inclusion of ‘Date and Place of Birth of parents’ in the NPR gives the
opponents of NRC the apprehension that the NPR is the first step towards the NRC.

36. THANK YOU
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