M. Mohsin Alam Bhat & Aashish Yadav Our contribution initially provides the background of India’s citizenship regime. While the regime started as an inclusive one in 1950, we argue that the subsequent amendments in 1986 and 2003 amounted to citizenship denial. These amendments severely curtailed access to citizenship for undocumented immigrants and their children but did not plainly discriminate against any community. The following section discusses the historically evolving citizenship determination procedures in Assam. We argue that these procedures do not adequately appreciate the social context that hinders the availability of documentary proof particularly for vulnerable communities. The lack of fair and transparent citizenship determination procedures, and the weak institutional independence of the tribunals threaten citizenship revocation. Moreover, the incarceration of suspected foreigners already amounts to denial of rights associated with citizenship. In the final section, we turn our focus to the CAA 2019. The legislation facially grants citizenship to a section of undocumented immigrants that the previous amendments (discussed earlier) had denied. We argue that by partially, selectively and discriminatorily removing the bar on access to citizenship, the CAA in fact entrenches and aggravates the ill effects of citizenship denial. We also argue that the cumulative operation of the proposed NRIC and the CAA at the national level threatens citizenship revocation. Citizenship regime in India This section analyses the amendments in the Indian citizenship regime to argue that they have restricted access to citizenship, amounting to citizenship denial. The Constituent Assembly framed the Indian Constitution from 1946 to 1949 in the throes of the unprecedented and tragic Partition of the country. The refugee crisis was thus the background of the Indian citizenship regime’s framing. The Constitution provided detailed qualifications of citizenship applicable at its commencement in 1950, including for the new immigrants. However, it did not entrench any specific regime for the time to come, leaving it for parliament to determine. The Constituent Assembly’s deliberations reflected an orientation towards a progressive regime. This was eventually manifested in the Citizenship Act that the Indian parliament enacted in 1955, which endorsed the ius soli conception of citizenship, and expansive naturalisation and registration routes to citizenship.2 But over time, the Indian citizenship regime has shifted towards a more exclusive and ethnic conception based on descent.3 In 1986, parliament amended the Citizenship Act to deny citizenship to the persons born in India after 1 July 1987 without an Indian parent.4 It justified this on the ground of the “influx of foreign nationals” and the objective of “preventing automatic acquisition of citizenship of India by birth”.5 The 2003 amendment to the Citizenship Act further extended this denial. It introduced the category of ‘illegal migrants’ defined as undocumented immigrants or foreigners without legal permission to stay in India.6 The amendment barred ‘illegal migrants’ from any route to citizenship either through naturalisation or registration procedure. The impact of citizenship denial was even more severe for the children of ‘illegal migrants’. The amendment denied citizenship by birth to persons born in India after 2003 if even one of their parents is an ‘illegal migrant’. 2 Scholars have noted how the implementation of citizenship policies in the aftermath of the Partition discriminated against the Muslim citizens of the country. See Zamindar, V. F (2007), The Long Partition and the Making of Modern South Asia: Refugees, Boundaries, Histories. Columbia University Press. 3 Mitra, S. K. (2008), ‘Level playing fields: The post-colonial state, democracy, courts and citizenship in India’, German Law Journal 9(3): 345. 4 The Citizenship (Amendment) Act 1986. 5 The Citizenship (Amendment) Act 1986, Statement of Object and Reasons. 6 The Citizenship (Amendment) Act 2003. 26 Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies Working Papers