Civil Service Bytes

The Aadhaar Bill has been introduced as a money bill, even though it doesn’t qualify as such under Article 110 of the Constitution. If the Speaker agrees to this, it will render the Rajya Sabha toothless in this matter, and will weaken our democracy. The government should reintroduce it as an ordinary legislative bill, which is what it is. While the government has in the past argued before the Supreme Court that Aadhaar is voluntary, Section 7 of the bill allows the government to mandate an Aadhaar number (or application for an Aadhaar number) as a prerequisite for obtaining some subsidies, benefits, services, etc. This undermines its arguments before the Supreme Court, which led the court to pass orders holding that Aadhaar should not be made mandatory. This move to make it mandatory will now need the government to argue that rather than contravene the apex court order, it has instead removed the rationale for it. Interestingly, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democr...

When the National Democratic Alliance introduced the Aadhaar Bill in Parliament late last week, it looked like the government was trying to latch the stable door a few years after the horse had bolted. This is 2016. We are approaching a billion issued Aadhaars. Passing an enabling legislation now is a bit like planning a coronation to celebrate the diamond jubilee of the Queen. Much of the opposition to Aadhaar comes from the massive amounts of sensitive personal information that has been collected. These apprehensions are exacerbated by the casual and porous approach that the government has to inter-departmental data transfer—a fear that was brought into sharp focus when it took the full might of the Supreme Court to stop the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) from accessing the Aadhaar fingerprint database. This is why we need an Aadhaar legislation—to establish boundaries within which the identity database will function and clearly cordon it off from government over-reach. In...

The Centre is going to introduce a Bill in the upcoming Budget session of Parliament to amend two electoral laws that will give voting rights to people who became Indian citizens following the exchange of enclaves between India and Bangladesh. The Union Cabinet on Wednesday gave its approval to amend Section 11 of the Delimitation Act, 2002, and Section 9 of the Representation of the People Act, 1950, that will allow this limited exercise of delimitation of Assembly and parliamentary constituencies in Cooch Behar district of West Bengal following the exchange of 51 Bangladeshi and 111 Indian enclaves in July last year. Following the delimitation, the people residing in these areas will be made voters of their respective Assembly and parliamentary constituencies. In a historic pact between India and Bangladesh, 51 Bangladeshi enclaves (Chhitmahals) in Indian territory and 111 Indian enclaves in Bangladesh territory were exchanged with effect from July 31, 2015. The move altered the...

The Centre is going to introduce a Bill in the upcoming Budget session of Parliament to amend two electoral laws that will give voting rights to people who became Indian citizens following the exchange of enclaves between India and Bangladesh. The Union Cabinet on Wednesday gave its approval to amend Section 11 of the Delimitation Act, 2002, and Section 9 of the Representation of the People Act, 1950, that will allow this limited exercise of delimitation of Assembly and parliamentary constituencies in Cooch Behar district of West Bengal following the exchange of 51 Bangladeshi and 111 Indian enclaves in July last year. Following the delimitation, the people residing in these areas will be made voters of their respective Assembly and parliamentary constituencies. In a historic pact between India and Bangladesh, 51 Bangladeshi enclaves (Chhitmahals) in Indian territory and 111 Indian enclaves in Bangladesh territory were exchanged with effect from July 31, 2015. The move altered the...

The President of India has promulgated the Enemy Property (Amendment and Validation) Ordinance, 2016 on January 07, 2016 to make amendments to the Enemy Property Act, 1968. The amendments through the Ordinance include that once an enemy property is vested in the Custodian, it shall continue to be vested in him as enemy property irrespective of whether the enemy, enemy subject or enemy firm has ceased to be an enemy due to reasons such as death etc; that law of succession does not apply to enemy property; that there cannot be transfer of any property vested in the Custodian by an enemy or enemy subject or enemy firm and that the Custodian shall preserve the enemy property till it is disposed of in accordance with the provisions of the Act. The above amendments to the Enemy Property Act, 1968 will plug the loopholes in the Act to ensure that the enemy properties that have been vested in the Custodian remain so and they do not revert back to the enemy subject or enemy firm. The Enemy...

The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2015  The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2015 was introduced in Lok Sabha by the Minister of State, Ministry of Home Affairs, Mr. Haribhai Partibhai Chaudhary on February 27, 2015.  The Bill amends the Citizenship Act, 1955. The Citizenship Act, 1955 regulates the acquisition and determination of citizenship after commencement of the Constitution.  It provides for citizenship by birth, descent, registration, naturalisation and by incorporation of territory.  In addition, it provides for renunciation and termination of citizenship under certain circumstances.  It also contains provisions regarding registration of Overseas Citizens of India and their rights. Citizenship by registration and naturalisation: The Act allows a person to apply for citizenship by registration or naturalisation if they fulfil certain qualifications.  For example, a person may apply for citizenship by registration if they or their parents wer...

Citizenship Act 1955 and Provisions of Indian Citizenship The Citizenship Act 1955 was ãrst enacted on 30 th  December 1955. It  was amended by Citizenship (Amendment) Act 1986, the Citizenship  (Amendment) Act 1992, the Citizenship (Amendment) Act 2003, and the  Citizenship (Amendment) Ordinance 2005. The Citizenship Act 1955  contains the rules for acquisition and termination of Indian Citizenship.  A person can be an Indian Citizen in various ways, out of which, Citizenship by birth and Descent are called natural citizens. Contents  Citizenship by Birth: Citizenship by Descent: Citizenship by Registration: Citizenship by Naturalization: Citizenship by incorporating a new territory: Commonwealth Citizenship: Citizenship by Birth: Any person born in India, on or after 26 January 1950 but prior to the  commencement of the 1986 Act on 1 July 1987 was a citizen of India  by birth. A person born in India on or after 1 July 1987 was a cit...