Provisions of Indian Citizenship in Constitution

The Indian Constitution is federal and has adopted a dual polity (Centre and State), but it provides for only single citizenship i.e. Indian citizenship. There is no separate citizenship system for the states here. Other federal states, such as the US and Switzerland, have adopted a dual citizenship system.

There are two types of people in India, citizens and foreigners. Citizens are full members of the Indian state and have full loyalty to it. They enjoy all civil and political rights.

On the other hand, foreigners are citizens of some other state and hence do not enjoy all civil and political rights. There are two categories of them - foreign friends and foreign enemies.|

• Foreign friends are those who have positive relations with India.
• Foreign enemies are those with whom India is at war.

The Constitution provides the following rights and privileges to Indian citizens. Not to foreigners:

Article 15

• Right against discrimination on the basis of religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth.

Article 16

• Right to equality in matters of public employment.

Article 19

• Freedom of speech and freedom of expression, assembly, association, movement, residence and occupation.

Articles 29 and 30

• Rights relating to culture and education.

Other Provisions

• Right to vote in Lok Sabha and State Legislative Assembly elections.
• Right to contest elections for membership of Parliament and State Legislatures.
• Right to hold public offices like President, Vice-President, Supreme Court and High Court Judges, Governors of States, Attorney General and Advocate General.

Constitutional provisions

• Part II of the Constitution deals with citizenship in Articles 5 to 11.
• It does not contain permanent and detailed provisions in this regard, it only identifies those people who became citizens of India at the time of enactment of the Constitution (i.e. 26 January 1950). Neither their acquisition nor loss of citizenship is discussed in it.
• It empowers the Parliament to make laws to provide for matters related to citizenship.
• Similarly, the Parliament enacted the Citizenship Act, 1955, which was amended in 1957, 1960, 1985, 1986, 1992, 2003, 2005, 2015 and 2019.

After the formation of the Constitution (26 January 1950), four categories of people became citizens of India according to the Constitution:

Article 5

• A person who is a native of India and fulfills any one of the three conditions. These conditions are-
  • If he was born in India, or
  • one of his parents was born in India or
  • has been residing in India for five years before the commencement of the Constitution.

Article 6

• A person who has migrated from Pakistan to India can become a citizen of India if either of his parents or grandparents were born in undivided India and either of the following two conditions are fulfilled-
  • If he migrated before 19th July, 1948, he must have ordinarily resided in India from the date of his migration; and
  • If he migrated to India on or after 19th July, 1948, he may be registered as a citizen of India, but such a person must have resided in India for six months to be registered .

Article 7

• A person who migrated from India to Pakistan after 1st March, 1947 but later returned to India for resettlement can become a citizen of India. He has to stay for six months after applying for registration .

Article 8

• A person whose parents or grandparents were born in undivided India but are living outside India can still become a citizen of India if he applies for registration as a citizen of India through diplomatic means or consular representation. This arrangement has been made for Indians living outside India to acquire Indian citizenship. 

Other constitutional provisions related to citizenship are as follows-

 Article 9

• A person who voluntarily acquires the citizenship of any other country shall not be a citizen of India or shall not be deemed to be a citizen of India.

Article 10

• Every person who is or is deemed to be a citizen of India shall be a citizen of India if the Parliament makes any such law .

Article 11

• The Parliament has the right to make laws regarding the acquisition and termination of citizenship and all other matters related to citizenship .
• In this context, the Parliament enacted the Citizenship Act, 1955 in 1955.

Citizenship Act, 1955

Provides for acquisition and termination of citizenship after the commencement of the Constitution. This Act has been amended eight times so far.

Acquisition of Citizenship

The Citizenship Act, 1955 states five conditions for acquiring citizenship, such as birth, hereditary, registration, natural and based on territorial inclusion.

1. By birth:
   • A person born in India on or after 26 January 1950 but before 1 July 1947 shall be a citizen of India irrespective of the nationality of his parents.
   • A person born in India on or after 1 July shall be a citizen of India only if at the time of his birth either of his parents is a citizen of India.
   • Apart from this, if a person is born in India after 3 December 2004, he shall be a citizen of India only if both his parents are citizens of India at the time of his birth or one of the parents is a citizen of India at that time and the other is not an illegal migrant.
   • Children of foreign diplomats posted in India and children of enemy countries do not have the right to acquire Indian citizenship.
     
2. By descent
   • A person born outside India on or after 26 January 1950 but before 10 December 1992 can become a citizen of India by descent if his father is a citizen of India at the time of his birth.
   • A person born outside India on or after 10 December 1992 can become a citizen of India only if at the time of his birth either of his parents is a citizen of India.
   • A person born outside India after 3 December 2004 cannot become a citizen of India by descent if his birth has not been registered at the Indian Consulate within one year of his birth or has not been registered after the said period with the consent of the Central Government.
3. By registration
   • The Central Government may, on receipt of an application, register any person (not being an illegal migrant) as a citizen of India if he belongs to any of the following categories,
   • A person of Indian origin who has resided in India for seven years immediately preceding the application for citizenship.
   • A person who is married to an Indian citizen and has been residing in India for seven years immediately preceding the application for registration.
   • Minor children of a citizen of India.
4. By Naturalisation:
   • The Central Government may, on an application, grant a certificate of citizenship by naturalisation to any person (not being an illegal migrant) if the person fulfils the following eligibility criteria:
   • If he is a citizen of any other country, he shall renounce the citizenship of that country on the acceptance of his application for Indian citizenship.
   • If he has been residing in India or in the service of the Government of India or partly in one and partly in the other, he must have been residing in India for a period of at least 12 months immediately preceding the date of application for citizenship.
   • If he has been residing in India or in the service of the Government of India or partly in one and partly in the other for a period of 14 years preceding the period of 12 months, the aggregate period shall not be less than eleven years.
5. By Incorporation of Territory:
   • When a foreign territory becomes a part of India, the Government of India declares the persons belonging to that territory to be citizens of India.
   • Such persons become citizens of India from the date mentioned. For example, when Pondicherry became a part of India, the Government of India issued the Citizenship (Pondicherry) Order, 1962. This order was issued under the Citizenship Act, 1955.
     

Termination of citizenship

The Citizenship Act, 1955 states three reasons for losing citizenship acquired by the Act or by constitutional provision- renunciation, termination or deprivation.

1. Voluntary renunciation:
   • An Indian citizen who is of full age and capacity can renounce his citizenship after such declaration that he is no longer a citizen of India.
2. By renunciation:
   • If an Indian citizen voluntarily acquires the citizenship of any other country, then his Indian citizenship will automatically be terminated.
   • However, this provision will not apply when India is engaged in war.
3. By deprivation:
   • The Central Government must deprive an Indian citizen of citizenship if:
   • If the citizenship has been acquired by fraudulent means.
   • If the citizen has shown disrespect towards the Constitution.
   • If the citizen has illegally established relations with the enemy during war or has given any anti-national information.
   • If the citizen has been imprisoned for two years in any country during the five years of registration or naturalization.
   • If the citizen has been ordinarily residing outside India for seven years.

Major amendments in the Citizenship Act, 1955

Citizenship Amendment Act, 1986

• This amendment added the condition that persons born in India on or after January 26, 1950, but before July 1, 1987, will be Indian citizens.
• Citizenship can be acquired for persons born after July 1, 1987 and before December 4, 2003, apart from this, citizenship can also be acquired for a person born in India, provided one of his parents was an Indian citizen at the time of birth.

Citizenship Amendment Act, 2003

• It added the condition that if a person born on or after December 4, 2004, wishes to acquire citizenship,
• one of his/her parents must be an Indian citizen
• the other should not be an illegal immigrant.

Citizenship Amendment Act, 2019

• Under this, Indian citizenship will be given to Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians who came to India on or before 31 December 2014 due to religious persecution in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh.
• They will not need documents like passport and visa to obtain Indian citizenship.
• These communities will be exempted from any criminal case under the Foreigners Act, 1946 and the Passport Act, 1920.
• These Acts are related to the provision of punishment for people entering India illegally and staying here even after the visa or permit has expired.
• For them, the condition of residence in the country for 11 years required to obtain Indian citizenship has been reduced to 5 years.