CAA has nothing to do with deportation of any foreigner or NRC, says MHA sources

Home ministry sources on Tuesday said that the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 has nothing to do with deportation of any foreigner and also clarified that the act has nothing to do with the National Register of Citizens (NRC) either.

"The CAA has absolutely nothing to do with deportation of any foreigner from India. The deportation process of any foreigner irrespective of his religion or country is implemented as per the mandate of the Foreigners Act, 1946 and/or The Passport (Entry into India) Act, 1920. These two laws govern entry, stay, movement within India and exit from India of all foreigners irrespective of their religion or country," MHA sources said.

It also outlined that the usual deportation process would apply to any illegal foreigner staying in India.

"It is a well-considered judicial process which is based on a proper enquiry by the local police or administrative authorities to detect an illegal foreigner. It is ensured that such an illegal foreigner has been issued proper travel documents by the embassy of his country so that he can be duly received by officials of his country when he is deported," sources from the Home ministry stated.

Sources also said that the Act has absolutely nothing to do with any Indian citizen in any way and a misinformation campaign has been ongoing over the issue.

"The Indian citizens enjoy Fundamental Rights conferred on them by the Constitution of India. No statute including the CAA can, abridge or take them away. There has been a misinformation campaign. The CAA does not affect any Indian citizen, including Muslim citizens," sources said.

The sources from the ministry also refuted all the claims interlinking CAA with NRC and clarified that the Citizenship has in no way altered the pre-existing legal provisions.

"The CAA has nothing to do with NRC. The legal provisions regarding NRC have been part of The Citizenship Act, 1955 since December, 2004. Also, there are specific statutory rules of 2003 to operationalise these legal provisions. They govern the process of registration of Indian citizens and issuance of national identity cards to them. These legal provisions have been on the statute books since last 15-16 years. The CAA has not altered them in any way whatsoever. "

The new Citizenship Act seeks to grant Indian citizenship to refugees from Hindu, Christian, Sikh, Buddhist and Parsi communities fleeing religious persecution from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh, and who entered India on or before December 31, 2014.