IN October this year, the Punjab Legislative Assembly amidst pandemonium passed 11 Bills without any discussion. As a result, Punjab State Commission for NRIs Act, 2011 was enacted with a generous state government providing Rs.50 lakh during the current year for paying the salary of employees of the five-member Commission.
While Non Resident Punjabis generally descend here to reconnect with their roots, there has been a role reversal this year. With Punjab going to the hustings in 2012, Ministers in waiting and poll managers have flown in advance to UK, USA and Canada to lobby for support and seek greenbacks. Indigenous vote banks in rural Punjab are also influenced by the thinking of philanthropic and cash-rich NRIs in the matter of casting the ballot. Hence the scramble to woo them.
This regardless of the fact that only 38 NRI voters have actually registered themselves for casting votes, for which they will have to be physically present in Punjab. For wooing this perceived vote bank, the political competition and compulsion is about which party can devise the best mechanism for resolving the problems of the NRIs in Punjab.
About 5 million Punjabis, it is estimated, are settled abroad and are bound by family, property and business interests back home. Their problems do need solutions. Conventional laws and slow, tardy procedures do leave them disenchanted.
Who is an NRI or a PIO or an OCI for that matter?
Section 2 of the Foreign Exchange Management Act 1999 (FEMA) defines a person resident in India and a person resident outside India but does not define the term NRI. However, a notification defines NRI to mean a person resident outside India who is either a citizen of India or is a person of Indian origin. Under FEMA, a person “resident” in India is one who resides in India for more than 182 days in the preceding financial year and who comes or stays in India for any purpose and a “non-resident” is merely defined as a person who is not a resident in India. Therefore, an NRI can be summed up as an Indian citizen who is ordinarily residing outside India and holds an Indian passport.
PIO: It means a foreign citizen who at any time held an Indian passport; or he/she or either of his /her parents or grandparents or great grandparents was born in and was permanently resident in India; or he/she is a spouse of a citizen of India or of a person of Indian origin. PIO card holders can visit India without visa for 15 years and will be required to register with Foreigners Registration Officer (FRO) in India when the stay exceeds 180 days continuously. PIOs enjoy parity with NRIs in respect of certain facilities but have no political rights and can apply for Indian citizenship after residing in India for a minimum of seven years.
OCI: A foreign national who was eligible to become a citizen of India on January 26, 1950, or was a citizen of India on or at any time after the said date or belonged to a territory that became part of India after August 15, 1947 and, his / her children and grandchildren are eligible for registration as OCIs. They enjoy multiple entry multipurpose lifelong visa for visiting India, are exempted registration with FRO/police authorities for any length of stay in India and are entitled to benefits notified under Section 7 B of the Citizenship Act. An OCI registered for 5 years and residing in India for one year can be granted Indian citizenship but have no political rights.
The Punjab State Commission for NRIs Act, 2011 is stated to be “An Act to provide for the constitution of the Commission for NRIs in the State of Punjab with a view to protecting and safeguarding the interests of the NRIs in the State of Punjab, and to recommend remedial measures to State Government."
It defines a “complaint” by stating that it “means all petitions/communications received in State Commission for NRIs from an NRI or any other person on his behalf, in person, by post, by telegram, by fax or by any other means whatsoever, alleging, disputes or violations or abetment thereof or negligence in the prevention of such dispute or violation, by a public servant or a private person or the material on the basis of which the Punjab State Commission for NRIs takes suo motu cognisance."
The flaws
The law however, does not define what is an “NRI dispute” or a “NRI violation". Consequently, the authority, jurisdiction and powers of the Commission, remain hazy and undefined.
Though the proposed body has extensive investigative powers through the existing official machinery, its capacity to provide practical relief and pass effective orders remains questionable. The NRI Commission cannot usurp the powers of courts and may well turn out to be unworkable.
Amusingly, the focus of the law enacted is more on the members of the Commission and what they will get as benefits. The actual emphasis on what the body in making would actually do and how it would dispense justice in relation to a defined arena of NRI disputes or violations is blissfully missing.
The grievances of NRIs revolve around family law related issues, property disputes, immigration related questions and trysts with criminal law. But then the system of Civil and Criminal Courts mandates that all disputes shall be adjudicated by Courts of competent jurisdiction as per statutory laws made by Parliament and applicable throughout India. Consequently, identifying an “NRI dispute” for being heard and decided by a different authority will clearly fall foul of the system of prevalent adjudication by existing courts. The aggrieved NRI will still need to invoke the powers of a competent Court for actual relief as a NRI Commission cannot enjoy parallel statutory adjudication powers.
In case the NRI Commission is meant to be a recommendatory body, the Law Commission of India and Punjab State Law Commission are already saddled with this exclusive role of suggesting changes in laws. In any case, no major exercise is needed to identify where amendments are required as both the problems and desired solutions are well known. Most of them relate to Central Laws within the ambit of Parliament. Hence, any state level exercise to achieve independent changes will be an exercise in futility.
While Non Resident Punjabis generally descend here to reconnect with their roots, there has been a role reversal this year. With Punjab going to the hustings in 2012, Ministers in waiting and poll managers have flown in advance to UK, USA and Canada to lobby for support and seek greenbacks. Indigenous vote banks in rural Punjab are also influenced by the thinking of philanthropic and cash-rich NRIs in the matter of casting the ballot. Hence the scramble to woo them.
This regardless of the fact that only 38 NRI voters have actually registered themselves for casting votes, for which they will have to be physically present in Punjab. For wooing this perceived vote bank, the political competition and compulsion is about which party can devise the best mechanism for resolving the problems of the NRIs in Punjab.
About 5 million Punjabis, it is estimated, are settled abroad and are bound by family, property and business interests back home. Their problems do need solutions. Conventional laws and slow, tardy procedures do leave them disenchanted.
Who is an NRI or a PIO or an OCI for that matter?
Section 2 of the Foreign Exchange Management Act 1999 (FEMA) defines a person resident in India and a person resident outside India but does not define the term NRI. However, a notification defines NRI to mean a person resident outside India who is either a citizen of India or is a person of Indian origin. Under FEMA, a person “resident” in India is one who resides in India for more than 182 days in the preceding financial year and who comes or stays in India for any purpose and a “non-resident” is merely defined as a person who is not a resident in India. Therefore, an NRI can be summed up as an Indian citizen who is ordinarily residing outside India and holds an Indian passport.
PIO: It means a foreign citizen who at any time held an Indian passport; or he/she or either of his /her parents or grandparents or great grandparents was born in and was permanently resident in India; or he/she is a spouse of a citizen of India or of a person of Indian origin. PIO card holders can visit India without visa for 15 years and will be required to register with Foreigners Registration Officer (FRO) in India when the stay exceeds 180 days continuously. PIOs enjoy parity with NRIs in respect of certain facilities but have no political rights and can apply for Indian citizenship after residing in India for a minimum of seven years.
OCI: A foreign national who was eligible to become a citizen of India on January 26, 1950, or was a citizen of India on or at any time after the said date or belonged to a territory that became part of India after August 15, 1947 and, his / her children and grandchildren are eligible for registration as OCIs. They enjoy multiple entry multipurpose lifelong visa for visiting India, are exempted registration with FRO/police authorities for any length of stay in India and are entitled to benefits notified under Section 7 B of the Citizenship Act. An OCI registered for 5 years and residing in India for one year can be granted Indian citizenship but have no political rights.
The Punjab State Commission for NRIs Act, 2011 is stated to be “An Act to provide for the constitution of the Commission for NRIs in the State of Punjab with a view to protecting and safeguarding the interests of the NRIs in the State of Punjab, and to recommend remedial measures to State Government."
It defines a “complaint” by stating that it “means all petitions/communications received in State Commission for NRIs from an NRI or any other person on his behalf, in person, by post, by telegram, by fax or by any other means whatsoever, alleging, disputes or violations or abetment thereof or negligence in the prevention of such dispute or violation, by a public servant or a private person or the material on the basis of which the Punjab State Commission for NRIs takes suo motu cognisance."
The flaws
The law however, does not define what is an “NRI dispute” or a “NRI violation". Consequently, the authority, jurisdiction and powers of the Commission, remain hazy and undefined.
Though the proposed body has extensive investigative powers through the existing official machinery, its capacity to provide practical relief and pass effective orders remains questionable. The NRI Commission cannot usurp the powers of courts and may well turn out to be unworkable.
Amusingly, the focus of the law enacted is more on the members of the Commission and what they will get as benefits. The actual emphasis on what the body in making would actually do and how it would dispense justice in relation to a defined arena of NRI disputes or violations is blissfully missing.
The grievances of NRIs revolve around family law related issues, property disputes, immigration related questions and trysts with criminal law. But then the system of Civil and Criminal Courts mandates that all disputes shall be adjudicated by Courts of competent jurisdiction as per statutory laws made by Parliament and applicable throughout India. Consequently, identifying an “NRI dispute” for being heard and decided by a different authority will clearly fall foul of the system of prevalent adjudication by existing courts. The aggrieved NRI will still need to invoke the powers of a competent Court for actual relief as a NRI Commission cannot enjoy parallel statutory adjudication powers.
In case the NRI Commission is meant to be a recommendatory body, the Law Commission of India and Punjab State Law Commission are already saddled with this exclusive role of suggesting changes in laws. In any case, no major exercise is needed to identify where amendments are required as both the problems and desired solutions are well known. Most of them relate to Central Laws within the ambit of Parliament. Hence, any state level exercise to achieve independent changes will be an exercise in futility.
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