SUPREME COURT OF INDIA
RANJAN GOGOI, CJI., ROHINTON FALI NARIMAN, JJ.
ASSAM PUBLIC WORKS – PETITIONER(S)
VERSUS
UNION OF INDIA & ORS. – RESPONDENT(S)
WRIT PETITION (CIVIL) NO.274 OF 2009 WITH I.A. NOS.114781, 114788, 114807, 114814, 116964, 117074, 117697 and 117689 of 2019
Decided On : 13-08-2019
(a) Citizenship Act, 1955 - Section 3 (1)(a) and (b) - Question whether the expression “every person born in India” would apply only to persons born to Indian citizens and whether the expression “either of whose parents is a citizen of India at the time of his birth” in S.3(1)(b) of the Citizenship Act, 1955 would apply to only a person who is born to parents one of whom is a citizen and the other a foreigner, provided he or she has entered India lawfully and his/her stay in India is not in contravention of applicable Indian laws - Pending before a Constitution Bench in WP (Civil) 311 of 2015. (Para 4)
(b) Citizenship Act, 1955 - Section 3 (1)(a), (b) and (c) - NRC - Prayer of State Coordinator in paragraph 7(b) and (c) of the Report dated 10th July, 2019 - In consonance with provisions of Section 3 (1) (b) and (c) and the Standard Operating Procedure for disposal of claims and objections - Leave granted to State Coordinator to act in terms of action proposed in paragraphs 7(b) and (c) of the report subject to orders in WP(C) 311 of 2015 - Further, the issues can be decided by Tribunal if so required as and when appeals are filed. (Para 5)
(c) Citizenship (Registration of Citizens and Issue of National Identity Cards) Rules, 2003 - Rule 4A, Clauses 2 and 3 of the Schedule, and paragraph 7(a) of the Report dated 10th July, 2019 - Preparation of NRC - Providing procedure for registration in NRC for persons entering Assam before 24.03.1971 and ordinarily living there. (Para 11)
(d) Citizenship Act, 1955 - Section 6A - Carving out a special category of citizens in State of Assam - Procedure for this special category of citizens prescribed in Rule 4A, Citizenship (Registration of Citizens and Issue of National Identity Cards) Rules, 2003. (Para 13)
(e) Citizenship Act, 1955 - Section 6A - NRC exercise performed in accordance with the prescribed Rules - Cannot be reopened on the basis of certain other parameters suggested on behalf of the intervenors/applicants on the strength of the provisions of Section 3(1)(a) of the Act. (Para 15)
(f) Citizenship Act, 1955 - Section 6A r/w Section 3(1)(a) - Security of NRC data - Union of India directed to enact an appropriate regime on lines similar to the security regime provided for AADHAR data - List of inclusions and exclusions shall be made available to the State Government, Central Government and Registrar General of India only thereafter. (Para 16)
(g) Illegal Migrants (Determination by Tribunal) (IMDT) Act - Validity of orders passed thereunder - Shall be governed by the decision of the Gauhati High Court in Anowar Ali v. State of Assam. (Para 17)
Facts of the case:
This case concerns with preparation of NRC. The petitioners/interveners have suggested certain new parameters to form basis of identification of citizens.
Result: Issue clarified and contention rejected.
ORDER
RANJAN GOGOI, CJI.
1. In our order dated 23rd July, 2019 we had extracted paragraphs 7 and 8 of the Report of Shri Prateek Hajela, learned State Coordinator dated 10th July, 2019. After setting out the contents of aforesaid two paragraphs of the Report dated 10th July, 2019 we had deemed it appropriate to direct the learned State Coordinator to issue a public notice to enable all stake-holders to appear before this Court, in a representative capacity, to contest the prayers made by the learned State Coordinator in the aforesaid two paragraphs of the Report dated 10th July, 2019, if so desired. The said two paragraphs read as follows:
“7. Another matter which the undersigned wishes to bring to the kind attention is about such cases of descendants of D Voter (DV)/ Declared Foreigner (DF)/Cases Pending at Foreigners Tribunals/Other Courts (PFT), whose one parent is DV/DF/PFT but the parent from whom the legacy is drawn for inclusion in NRC is not WP(C) 274/2009 4 DV/DF/PFT and is also found eligible for inclusion in NRC. The Hon’ble Supreme Court in their order of 2 July 2018 have ordered that those persons who are DVs or PFTs as well as their descendants are not to be included in updated NRC. As descendance can be drawn from either of the parents, clarification appears to be required in cases where one of the parents is clear from all angles (not DV/DF/PFT and eligible for NRC inclusion) while the other parent is a DV or DF or PFT. It also appears that while deciding eligibility of descendants, provisions of Section 3(1)(b) & (c) of the Citizenship Act, 1955 may be important to be taken into account, though citizenship purely by birth and not by descendance (Section 3(1)(a) is not eligible for inclusion in NRC. It is humbly felt that the sustance of Section 3(1)(b) & (c) is that while determining citizenship of any descendant born up to 3 December, 2004, citizenship eligibility of any one of the parents suffices, while for those descendants born on or after 3 December 2004, citizenship eligibility of both the parents needs to be taken into account. From a conjoint reading of Hon’ble Supreme Court’s order dated 2 July 2018 and the provisions contained in Section 3(1)(b) & (c) of the Citizenship Act, 1955, the following appears to be the best course of action:
a. For any NRC Applications/Claimants, if parent/legacy person through whom eligibility is sought to be established is a DV or DF or PFT, then such persons will not be included in NRC irrespective of the status of the other parent.
b. For those persons born before 3 December 2004, if the parent through whom legacy is drawn is not DV or DF or PFT and is found eligible for inclusion in NRC, but the other parent from whom legacy is not drawn is a DV or DF or PFT, then, such descendants may be included in NRC.
c. For those persons who are born on or after 3 December 2004, they will not be included in NRC if any of the parent is DV or DF or PFT even if the parent from whom legacy is drawn is clear from all angles.
In this regard, it is submitted that the aforementioned matter was submitted by the deponent before the Judges Committee for opinion but the Committee advised to seek the order of the Hon’ble Court on the matter. As such the WP(C) 274/2009 5 above is submitted for kind approval.
8. That the deponent also would like to seek clarification on the matter of validity of orders passed under the Illegal Migrants (Determination by Tribunal) (IMDT) Act. Some of the applicants have submitted orders passed under IMDT declaring them as Indian. This matter was also referred by the deponent to the Judges Committee, however, the Committee advised the deponent to seek order from the Hon’ble Court on the matter. As such, directions are sought about acceptability of orders of IMDT, whether declaring the person to be Indian or Illegal Migrant.”
2. Pursuant to our aforesaid order dated 23rd July, 2019, several Interlocutory Applications (I.As) have been filed contesting the action pr
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