Statelessness Working Paper Series No. 2017/02 elaborates upon this that the person or family shall be given the opportunity to be heard by the Subdistrict or Taluk Registrar of Citizen Registration94 before a final decision is made,95 while Rule no.7 provides for the opportunity of an appeal to be made.96 Still, there is no remark on the status of individuals whose citizenship remains doubtful even after the verification process is over. While Section 13 provides that in cases of doubt, the Central Government if it thinks appropriate may issue a certificate of citizenship. However for this to be possible, it still requires that citizenship was not obtained by means of fraud, false representation or concealment of any material fact. Thus, it remains unclear which degree of discretion would be given to authorities in respect of stateless persons with regards to Section 13. 2.3.2 Aadhaar While the abovementioned registrar is a database for Indian citizens only, the National Population Register (NPR) and Unique Identification Number of India (UIDAI) are in currently in progress to collect and store the demographic data of residents into a centralised database while issuing an Aadhaar, a unique 12-digit identity number to each resident. Although this is a great step in storing an identity database for residents in the country, it is still unclear what the potential implications of this would be on stateless persons. It is likely it will be just another system in which stateless persons do not exist and thus there would be no data providing how many of them there are. 2.3.3 Foreigners Act, 1946 The Foreigners Act (1946) is the primary law regarding non-nationals in India.97 This Act gives the Central Government the authority to prohibit, regulate or restrict entry of foreigners into and out of India.98 The act defines a ‘foreigner’ as someone who is “not a citizen of India.”99 Section 8 of the Foreigners Act on the determination of nationality considers the situation of a foreigner recognized as a national by the law of more than one foreign country or a foreigner whose nationality is uncertain.100 Such a foreigner “may be treated as the national of the country with which he appears to the prescribed authority to be most closely connected for the time being in interest or sympathy or if he is of uncertain nationality, of the country with which he was last so connected.”101 If the foreigner has a nationality by birth, (s)he shall be deemed to retain that nationality unless the Central Government directs otherwise or where the individual proves that (s)he has acquired by naturalisation or otherwise the nationality of another country.102 Section 8 does not clarify the status or treatment of foreigners who appear to have no nationality upon the completion of the determination procedure, which again leaves stateless people in a legal grey zone and thus result in further human rights violations. The 94 See Section 2(o) of the Citizenship (Registration of Citizens and Issue of National Identity Cards) Rules 2003 Rule 5, ibid. 96 Rule 7, ibid. 97 The Foreigners Act, 1946, supplemented by the Registration of Foreigners Act, 1939; the Foreigners (Internment) Order, 1962; the Foreigners (Tribunal) Order, 1964; and the Registration of Foreigners Rules, 1992 98 Section 3, The Foreigners Act, 1946 99 Section 2, ibid. 100 Section 8(1), The Foreigners Act, 1946 101 Section 8(1), ibid. 102 Section 8(1), ibid. 95 11