New Immigration and Foreigners Bill in Lok Sabha today, aims to tackle national security threats

The Narendra Modi government on Tuesday introduced the Immigration and Foreigners Bill to streamline and update laws related to foreign travel.

The bill seeks to replace the following four laws: the Passport (Entry into India) Act, 1920; the Registration of Foreigners Act, 1939; the Foreigners Act, 1946; and the Immigration (Carriers’ Liability) Act, 2000.

While introducing the bill, Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai said the provisions of the proposed law are important for national security.

“Since India is growing economically, government is committed and providing facilities to ensure more tourists come here. But it is also the government’s responsibility to prioritise the security of the country,” said Rai, according to Hindustan Times.

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The new law puts the onus on institutions, such as hospitals or educational institutions, housing foreigners of informing the officials, as per HT.

While the provision exists currently, it is in the form of an executive order and now it is being codified under law, as per the newspaper.

The bill further obligates carriers, such as airlines and ships, to remove passengers denied entry by an immigration officers and provide passengers and crew data to the authorities in advance, according to the newspaper.

As Rai introduced the bill, the Opposition rose to criticise it with Congress MP Manish Tewari and Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Sougata Roy taking the lead. While Tewari criticised the bill for not providing appeal mechanism against decision of immigration officers and said such a bill violated the “fundamental cannon of justice and jurisprudence”, Roy said the provisions infringed upon fundamental rights, according to The Tribune.

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Tewari demanded that the bill be sent to a parliamentary select committee for scrutiny.

As for the penalties, the bill charges the use or distribution of forged or fraudulently obtained passports or other travel documents with two years’ imprisonment, which may be extended to seven years, and overstaying beyond the visa period with three years’ imprisonment and a fine of up to Rs 3 lakh.