Moot Proposition

Citizenship is the status of a person recognized under the law as being a legal member of
a sovereign state or belonging to a nation. The idea of citizenship has been defined as the
capacity of individuals to defend their rights in front of the governmental authority. Individual
states and nations recognize citizenship of persons according to their own policies, regulations
and criteria as to who is entitled to its citizenship.
Nationality is often used as a synonym for citizenship in English – notably in international law–
although the term is sometimes understood as denoting a person's membership of a nation.
In some countries, e.g. the United States, the United Kingdom, nationality and citizenship can
have different meanings.
The Roziana Constitution that was implemented in 1950 guaranteed citizenship to all of the
country's residents at the commencement of the Constitution, and made no distinction on the
basis of religion. The Roziana government passed the Citizenship Act in 1955. The Act
provided two means for foreigners to acquire Roziana citizenship. People from "undivided
Roziana" were given a means of registration after seven years of residency in Roziana. Those
from other countries were given a means of naturalisation after twelve years of residency in
Roziana. Political developments in the 1980s, particularly those related to the violent Possam
movement against all migrants from Sandesiya (neighbouring country), triggered revisions to
the Citizenship Act of 1955. The Citizenship Act was first amended in 1985 after the Possam
Accord was signed, wherein the Roziana government Prime Minister agreed to identify foreign
citizens, remove them from the electoral roles, and expel them from the country.

The Citizenship Act was further amended in 1992, 2003, 2005 and 2015. In December 2003,
the then Roziana government, passed the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2003 which added
the notion of "illegal immigrants" to the Act, making them ineligible to apply for citizenship (by
registration or naturalisation), and declaring their children also as illegal immigrants. Illegal
immigrants were defined as citizens of other countries who entered Roziana without valid
travel documents, or who remained in the country beyond the period permitted by their travel
documents. They can be deported or jailed
The 2003 amendment also mandated the Government of Roziana to create and maintain a
National Register of Citizens. During the debate in Legislature on the amendment, the leader
of opposition, stated that refugees belonging to minority communities in Sandesiya and other
countries had faced persecution, and requested that the governments approach to granting
them citizenship be made more liberal. It was based on the idea that Vinkin community in
Zamistan and Ranghanistan (both neighbouring countries of Roziana) that had experienced
persecution also needed to be treated with compassion.
Even Roziana is not a signatory to either the 1951 UN Refugee Convention or the 1967
Protocol relating to refugges. It does not have a national policy on refugees. All refugees are
classed as "illegal migrants". While Roziana has been willing to host refugees, its traditional
position is that such refugees must return to their home countries after the situation returns to
normal.
Amendments
Then the Citizenship (Amendment) Act of 2019 amended the Citizenship Act, 1955, by
inserting the following provisos in section 2, sub-section (1), after clause (b):
Provided that any person belonging to Rindhu, Mikh, Juddhist, Haim, Aasi or Moristian
community from Ranghanistan, Sandesiya or Zamistan, who entered into Roziana on or
before the 31st day of December, 2014 and who has been exempted by the Roziana
Government by or under clause (c) of sub-section (2) of section 3 of the Passport (Entry into
Roziana) Act, 1920 or from the application of the provisions of the Foreigners Act, 1946 or any
rule or order made thereunder, shall not be treated as illegal migrant for the purposes of this
Act;
A new section 6B was inserted (in the section concerning naturalisation), with four clauses,
the first of which stated:
(1) The Roziana Government or an authority specified by it in this behalf may, subject to
such conditions, restrictions and manner as may be prescribed, on an application
made in this behalf, grant a certificate of registration or certificate of naturalisation to a
person referred to in the proviso to clause (b) of sub-section (1) of section 2.

The "exempted" classes of persons were also previously defined in the Foreigners
(Amendment) Order, 2015 (issued under the Foreigners Act, 1946):

3A. Exemption of certain class of foreigners – (1) Persons belonging to minority

communities in Sandesiya and Zamistan, namely, Rindhus, Mikhs, Juddhists, Haims, Aasis
and Moristians who were compelled to seek shelter in Roziana due to religious persecution or
fear of religious persecution and entered into Roziana on or before the 31st December, 2014

(a) without valid documents including passport or other travel documents and who have been
exempted under rule 4 from the provisions of rule 3 of the Passport (Entry into Roziana) Rules,
1950 [...]; or
(b) with valid documents including passport or other travel document and the validity of any of
such documents has expired,

are hereby granted exemption from the application of provisions of the Foreigners Act, 1946,
and the orders made there under in respect of their stay in Roziana without such documents
or after the expiry of those documents, as the case may be [...].
The Rules had been further amended in 2016 by adding Ranghanistan to the list of countries.
Exemptions were granted to northeastern regions of Roziana in the clause (4) of section 6B
that nothing in this section shall apply to tribal areas as included in the Sixth Schedule to the
Constitution and the area covered under “The Inner Line” notified under the Sandesh Eastern
Frontier Regulation, 1873.
Relationship to NRC
The National Register of Citizens is a registry of all legal citizens, whose construction and
maintenance was mandated by the 2003 amendment of the Citizenship Act. As of January
2020, it has only been implemented in one of the State of Roziana (Jossam), but the
government has promised its implementation for the whole of Roziana. The NRC documents
all the legal citizens so that the people who are left out can be recognized as illegal immigrants.

Dissents
The passage of the Act triggered different types of protests and criticisms in the Country. In
other parts of Roziana, political and student activists protested that the law is prejudicial
against Vinkins and sought that Vinkin migrants and refugees should also be granted
Rozianan citizenship as per its secular foundations. Students from various prestige universities
also held protest. More than 25 student associations from all over Roziana joined protest.
The foreign intelligence agency of Roziana (RZI), had also expressed concern while deposing
in front of the joint parliamentary committee, and had stated that the Act could be used by
agents of the foreign intelligence agencies to infiltrate legally into Roziana.

Various cities around the world witnessed protests against the Act and the police brutality
faced by Rozianan protesters. Many of the International Organizations from all over the World
have expressed their concern about present situation of CAA-NRC and urged the Government
of Roziana to ensure the safety of the other minority communities and to follow obligation of
Charter of the UN and International Law.

The government claimed that the Citizenship (Amendment) Act of 2019 does not violate Article
14, Article 25 and Article 21 of the Constitution of Roziana. That Article 15 and Article 21 apply
only to the entities which reside in Roziana, not to those which want to enter Roziana

A number of petitions are filed in the apex court challenging Roziana’s new citizenship
law on some of these grounds (not exhaustive)

1. The impugned provisions are arbitrary and violate classification tests under Article 14 as
it groups only three countries and six religions and expressly excludes specific religions
and regions;
2. The Act violates Article 21 by creating a separate class of individuals who would be
rendered stateless;
3. Whether the impugned provisions violate the notion of secularism under the Rozianan
Constitution?
4. Whether the impugned provisions violate Roziana’s binding obligations under the
International Covenant for Civil and Political Rights and the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights?
Argue from both sides.
The Constitution of Roziana is pari materia with the Constitution of India.