CITIZENSHIP (ARTICLE 5-11)

Part II of the Indian Constitution deals with Citizenship, the following part carries
six articles starting from Article 5 to Article 11.

 Article 5 talks about Citizenship at the time of commencement of the

Constitution namely contain three clauses, first deals with a person
born in Indian territory will Indian Citizen. Second talks about the
person whose parents are born in India will also be an Indian Citizen,
third talks about person residing in India for the continuous period of 5
years before the commencement of the Indian Constitution will be the
citizen of India.
 Article 6 talks about the rights of citizenship of certain persons who
have migrated to India from Pakistan. The article is further divided into
two clauses and second clauses are further divided into two
subsections.
o The first clause gives citizenship right to any person who has
migrated from Pakistan to India provided any of his parents or
grandparents were Indian Citizens according to the
Government of India Act, 1935.
o The second clause talks about the citizenship of a person who
migrated before and after the 19th July 1948 and its
procedure of recording in the registered document.
 Article 7 talks about a person who have migrated to Pakistan from
India will no more be considered as Indian Citizen provided, they
hadn’t returned to India under the permit for resettlement.
 Article 8 is the clause which discusses the citizenship of person of
Indian Origin living outside Indian and whose any of the parent or
Grandparent was born in India and they have registered themselves as
Indian Citizen at the consular or diplomatic representative of India.
 Article 9 of the constitution provides for automatic suspension of
Indian citizen if that person voluntarily seeks citizenship of any other
country.
 Article 10 provides that person who meets the definition of Citizen
under part II will continue to be a citizen unless parliament has
amended the definition and that person is excluded from the definition.
 Article 11 gives the powers to the government over who will be a
citizen and who will not be a citizen without limitation by the
constitution.

These articles provide for citizenship at the commencement of the constitution,

after this the parliament has passed a Citizenship Act, 1955 which provide for
acquisition and termination of citizenship of India.

ACQUISITION OF CITIZENSHIP UNDER THE CITIZENSHIP ACT, 1955

The Citizenship Act provides 5 ways to acquire citizenship of India. These are
birth, descent, registration, naturalisation, and incorporation of territory.

Birth

 A person born in India after the passing of the bill will be considered
as an Indian Citizen till the date of 1st July 1987 irrespective of the
nationality of his parents. After this a major amendment took place,
a person will be considered as Indian Citizen only when either of the
parents was a citizen of India at the time of his birth.
 After 3rd December 2004, those born in India will be considered as
Indian citizen if both or either one of the parents is a citizen of
India.
 However, the children of a foreign diplomat posted in India and
enemy aliens cannot acquire citizen by birth in India.

Descent
A person born outside India after the commencement of the
constitution but before 10th December 1992 will be considered as an
Indian citizen if his father was an Indian citizen at the time of birth.

 A person born on or after 10th December 1992 will be considered as

Indian citizen if either of his parents were an Indian citizen at the
time of his birth.

 From 3rd December 2004 onwards, a person would not be

considered an Indian citizen unless his birth is registered with Indian
Consular or Diplomate of that Country or with the permission of the
Government.

Registration

The Central Government may, on an application, register as a citizen of India

any person (not being an illegal migrant) if he belongs to any of the following
categories, namely:

(a) A person of Indian origin who is ordinarily resident in India for seven
years before making an application for registration;

(b) A person of Indian origin who is ordinarily resident in any country or

place outside undivided India;
(c) A person who is married to a citizen of India and is ordinarily resident in
India for seven years before making an application for registration;

(d)  Minor children of persons who are citizens of India;

(e) A person of full age and capacity whose parents are registered as citizens
of India.

(f) A person of full age and capacity who, or either of his parents, was an
earlier citizen of independent India, and is ordinarily resident in India for
twelve months immediately before making an application for registration;

(g) A person of full age and capacity who has been registered as an overseas
citizen of India cardholder for five years, and who is ordinarily resident in
India for twelve months before making an application for registration.

Naturalisation

The Central Government may, on an application, grant a certificate of

naturalisation to any person (not being an illegal migrant) if he possesses the
following qualifications

 He is not a subject or citizen of any country where citizens of India

are prevented from becoming subjects or citizens of that country by
naturalisation.

 He is a citizen of any country; he undertakes to renounce the

citizenship of that country in the event of his application for Indian
citizenship being accepted.

 He has either resided in India or been in the service of a

Government in India or partly the one and partly the other,
throughout the period of twelve months immediately preceding the
date of the application.
 During the fourteen years immediately preceding the said period of
twelve months, he has either resided in India or been in the service
of a Government in India, or partly the one and partly the other, for
periods amounting in the aggregate to not less than eleven years
 He is of good character.
 He has adequate knowledge of a language specified in the Eighth
Schedule to the Constitution.
 That in the event of a certificate of naturalisation being granted to
him, he intends to reside in India or to enter into or continue in,
 service under a Government in India or under an international
organisation of which India is a member or under a society,
company or body of persons established in India.

By Incorporation of territory

When any territory outside India becomes part of India, then their citizen
automatically becomes the citizen of India from the notified date. Example
when Goa and Pondicherry became part of India, the citizen automatically
acquired the citizenship of India.

Loss of Citizenship
The Citizenship Act, 1955 provides for three ways for the termination of
citizenship. These three ways are renunciation, termination and deprivation.

 By Renunciation: any person with majority and capacity can

declare to renounce his citizenship. Upon such registration of
request, the person shall cease to the citizen of India.
 By Termination: When a person with his knowledge acquired
citizenship of any other country than the Indian citizen automatically
forfeits.

 By Deprivation: It is a compulsory termination of Indian citizenship

by the Central government, if


o Citizen has obtained citizenship by fraud.
o Citizen has shown disloyalty to the Constitution of India.
o Citizen has unlawfully traded or communicated with the
enemy during a war.
o The citizen has, within five years after registration or
naturalisation, been imprisoned in any country for two
years; and
o Citizen has been ordinarily resident out of India for seven
years continuously.

Rights of Citizens

 The constitution of India grants some rights solely to Indian citizen

and are same denied to foreign nations. The following rights are:
  Article 15: Right against discrimination on grounds of religion,
race, caste, sex or place of birth.

 Article 16: Right to equality of opportunity in the matter of public

employment
 Article 19: Right to freedom of speech and expression, assembly,
association, movement, residence and profession.
 Articles 29 and 30: Cultural and educational rights.
 Right to vote in elections to the Lok Sabha and state legislative
assembly.

 Right to contest for the membership of the Parliament and the

state legislature.

 Eligibility to hold certain public offices, that is, President of India,

Vice-President of India, judges of the Supreme Court and the high
courts, governor of states, the attorney general of India and
advocate general of states.
These are the rights that are available Indian citizen but owing to this there
are some obligations on the citizens also. These are like paying taxes to the
government on time, respect the national flag and things in national emblem
and defending the country when required to do so.

Is Dual citizenship permitted in India?

 Dual citizenship stands for acquiring citizenship of two different

nation at the same time. There are some countries in the world
which provide for this, but unfortunately, India is not one of them.
India provides for single citizenship implying one has to leave his
original citizenship to gain Indian citizenship or to acquire citizenship
of any other nation one has to terminate Indian citizenship or it will
automatically be terminated.
 The rationale behind not providing Indian citizenship is Single
citizenship is considered a commitment to the nation and one is
provided with dual citizenship, all the faith and loyalty vanishes
away.

Who are Overseas Citizens?

 Overseas citizenship was introduced in response to dual citizenship

in 2005. It grants overseas citizens to work and live in India
indefinitely. The following persons are considered for Overseas
citizenship.
 o A person who was a citizen of India at the time of, or at
any time after the commencement of the Constitution i.e.
26.01.1950.
o A person who was eligible to become a citizen of India on
26.01.1950.
o A person who belonged to a territory that became part of
India after 15.08.1947.
 A person who is a child or a grandchild or a great-grandchild of such
a citizen.

 A person who is a minor child of such persons mentioned above.

 A person who is a minor child and whose parents are citizens of
India or one of the parents is a citizen of India.
 Spouse of foreign origin of a citizen of India or spouse of foreign
origin of an Overseas Citizen of India Cardholder registered under
section 7A of the Citizenship Act, 1955. and whose marriage has
been registered and subsisted for a continuous period of not less
than two years immediately preceding the presentation of the
application.

Difference between Nationality, Citizenship, Overseas citizenship and non-

residence citizenship

 Nationality is the status of belonging to a particular nation. The

nationality of the person is determined from where he belongs, it
more of sociological concept determined by ethnic and racial groups
and it can never be taken from a person and forms a person’s
identity. There is no relation of nationality with the rights conferred
to the person.
 Citizenship is more of a legal concept and is granted by the
government of that nation. unlike nationality, it can be changed or
taken away from a person. The person is given rights by its own
government by the virtue of citizenship. While a person can belong
to one nationality but he can acquire citizenship of several nations
at the same time. These are the persons who have some exclusive
rights that can be enjoyed by them and these are their privileged
owing to the citizen of that nation.
 Overseas citizenship is in replacement of dual citizenship and is a
unique concept to India and unlike dual citizenship, it is available to
an only certain category of people who had earlier relation to India
or their parents or grandparents. There are rights available to
overseas citizens but these are not as exclusive as they are to
ordinary citizens.
 Non-residence Citizenship is given to the people who have Indian
Citizens but owing to work or other reason these people are not
living in India but these people have all rights that have to the
ordinary citizen of India.