The constitution of India gives ‘Single Citizenship” for all its citizens India. India has two kinds of people,
- Citizens and
- Aliens or Non-Citizens.
Part II of the Constitution of India (Articles 5-11) deals with the Citizenship of India. Non-Citizens do not enjoy the fundamental rights precisely Article 15,16,19,29,30 of the Indian Constitution.
So, as in the previous post, we have studied Part-I of the Indian Constitution ie Union and its Territories. Now, we will study next Part-II of the Indian Constitution.
Citizenship: Constitutional Provisions
Article 5
At the commencement of the constitution (i.e. on January 26, 1950) the followings were the provisions,
- A person became a citizen of India if had his domicile in India,
- And who was born in the territory of India,
- either of whose parents was born in the territory of India and
- The one, who has been ordinarily resident in the territory of India for not less than five years immediately before the commencement of the Constitution!!
Article 6
Rights of citizenship of certain persons who have migrated to India from Pakistan.
A person who migrated to India from Pakistan became an Indian citizen if he or either of his parents and grandparents was born in undivided India.
Article 7
Rights of citizenship of certain migrants to Pakistan.
A person who migrated to Pakistan from India after march 1, 1947, but later returned to India for resettlement could become an Indian citizen.
Article 8
Rights of citizenship of certain persons of Indian origin residing outside India.
A person who, or any of whose parents or grandparents, was born in undivided India. But who is originally residing outside India shall become an Indian citizen if he has been registered as a citizen of India.
Article 9
If a person voluntarily acquired the citizenship of any foreign state then he will not be a citizen of India.
Article 10
Continuance of the rights of citizenship, subject to the provisions of any law made by Parliament.
Article 11
Parliament shall have the power to make any provision concerning the acquisition and termination of citizenship.
Acquisition of Citizenship
The Citizenship Act of 1955 prescribes five ways of acquiring citizenship. We will study them one-by-one.
Birth
If a person born in India on or after 26 January 1950 but before 1 July 1987 is a citizen of India.
A person born after 1 July 1987 is considered as a citizen if either of his parents is a citizen of India.
Descent
A person born outside India on or after 26 January 1950 but before 10 December 1992 is a citizen of India by descent.
If a person born after 10 December 1992 is considered as a citizen if either of his parents is a citizen of India.
Registration
The Union Government may ask to fill an application to register as a citizen of India. If,
- A person of Indian origin who is ordinarily resident in India for seven years,
- A person who is married to a citizen of India,
- Minor children of persons who are citizens of India,
- A person of full age and capacity whose parents are registered as citizens of India.
Naturalisation
The Union Government may, on an application, grant a certificate of naturalisation to any person. If,
- He is not a citizen of any country where citizens of India are prevented from becoming citizens of that country by naturalisation and
- He has either reside in India or been in the service of a government in India throughout the period of 12 months immediately after the date of application.
By Incorporation of Territory
If any foreign territory becomes a part of India; the Government of India specifies the persons who among the people of the territory shall be the Indians.
Abolition of Citizenship
There are three ways by which one can lose citizenship. The Citizenship act of 1955 describes them all.
Renunciation
Any citizen of India can make a declaration renouncing his Indian citizenship.
So, one important thing is, when a person renounces his Indian citizenship, every minor child of that person also loses Indian Citizenship.
Termination
When an Indian Citizen voluntarily acquires citizenship of another country, his Indian citizenship automatically terminates.
Deprivation
It is a compulsory termination of Indian citizenship by the Union government. If
- The citizen has obtained citizenship by fraud,
- Citizen shows disloyalty to the constitution and
- The citizen unlawfully traded or communicated to the enemy during war.
National Register of Citizen (NRC)
First of all, one needs to understand what is the National Register of Citizens?
So, here, the National Register of Citizens is a list of Citizens living in Assam. Assam shares an international boundary with Bangladesh. So, from the British era to the present period, Assam saw an influx of migrants.
The influx of migrants create some administrative, economic and political problems in State. So, the National Register of Citizens is a kind of check for illegal migration activity in the Assam. Actually, the Indo-Pak war of 1971, accelerated the immigrant’s activity in this region
So, this immigration led to the conflict between illegal migrants and indigenous people of Assam state. An agitation arose and culminated by the signing of the Assam Accord.
Assam Accord
Now, according to the Assam Accord, those who entered the state between 1966-1971, would be devoid of their voting rights for 10years. So, after 10years, their names will be restored in the electoral rolls.
NRC Current status
The NRC is being updated as per the provisions of The Citizenship Act, 1955 and The Citizenship (Registration of Citizens and Issue of National Identity Cards) Rules, 2003. The Citizenship Act, 1955 amended after the Assam accord.
NRC was first prepared after the Census of 1951 to tackle the illegal immigration issues. So, in 2014, the Supreme Court asked the state government to update the 1951 NRC in a time-bound manner.
So, the present exercise is being conducted under the supervision of the Supreme Court. I am sharing the link of NRC issue here, kindly go through the article to understand more about the issue. (National Register of Citizens)
Nagaland started its own “Register of Indigenous Inhabitants of Nagaland” (similar to National Register of Citizens) to restrict the issue of fake indigenous inhabitant certificates. Tripura is also demanding for NRC.
So, this was all about the citizenship, Part-II of the Indian Constitution. See guys, earlier, I mean before August 5th, 2019 Jammu and Kashmir people also had dual citizenship. One is State citizenship and another is Indian citizenship.
But after August 5th, 2019 or revocation of Article-370 of Indian Constitution, from Kashmir to Kanyakumari, we all are Indians. 🇮🇳🤗
Thanks and Stay Civilised. 😊
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