The Hindu reported that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) issued a notification in March 2018 permitting long-term visa holders belonging to minority communities from Afghanistan, Bangladesh or Pakistan, to purchase immovable property subject to certain conditions.
The RBI that controls the currency, banking system and monetary policy, issued Notification No. FEMA 21(R)/2018-RB on March 26, 2018 under the provisions of the Foreign Exchange Management (Acquisition and Transfer of Immovable Property in India) Regulations, 2018. Point 7 of the notification is reproduced below:
7. Acquisition by a Long-Term Visa holder:- A person being a citizen of Afghanistan, Bangladesh or Pakistan belonging to minority communities in those countries, namely, Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians who is residing in India and has been granted a Long Term Visa (LTV) by the Central Government may purchase only one residential immovable property in India as dwelling unit for self-occupation and only one immovable property for carrying out self-employment subject to the following conditions:
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Newsclick reported that subsequently, the same set of minorities from the same countries, were allowed to open Non-Resident Ordinary (NRO) accounts to manage their incomes earned in India.
These moves are significant, not only because they were undertaken in the run up to the CAA, but also because a federal institution, that is purportedly autonomous and not expected to display any bias, religious or otherwise, clearly issued a notification that specifically left out Muslims. Considering that the Modi regime had introduced CAB in 2016, it cannot be ruled out that the RBI was in the know as the notification specifically names the communities and countries mentioned in CAA.
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