The Foreigners Act, 1946
The Foreigners Act, 1946 was an Act of the Imperial Legislative Assembly enacted to grant the certain powers to the Interim Government of India in matters of foreigners in India. The Act was enacted before India became independent.It was repealed by Immigration and Foreigners Act 2025.
Definition
The Act defines a foreigner as "a person who is not a citizen of India". Section 9 of the Act states that, where the nationality of a person is not evident as per Section 8, the onus of proving whether a person is a citizen of India shall lie upon such person.
Identification
According to the Foreigners Order, 2001, made under the Foreigners Act 1946, where any person who has reason to believe that a foreigner has entered India without valid documents or is staying in India beyond the authorized period of stay accommodates such a foreigner in a premises occupied, owned or controlled by him, for whatever purpose, it shall be the duty of such a person to inform the nearest police station, within 24 hours, of the presence of such foreigner.
Reporting
The Foreigners Act empowers the Indian government to detain a person until deportation back to their country of origin.