The legal status of a person as a legitimate citizen of a state or as a member of a country is known as citizenship. The Indian Constitution’s Articles 5 through 11 deal with the idea of citizenship. In order to fully enjoy any State in which a person enjoys civil and political rights, one must be a citizen of that State.
Constitutional Rules
The Constitution places citizenship on the Union List, placing it solely within the purview of Parliament.
The term “citizen” is not defined in the Constitution, however Part 2’s Articles 5 to 11 provide information on the numerous groups of people who qualify for citizenship.
These articles were put into effect on November 26, 1949, the day the Constitution was enacted, unlike other elements of the Constitution, which took effect on January 26, 1950.
Article 5: Citizenship at the Constitution’s outset
This page discusses citizenship for those alive on January 26, 1950, the day the Constitution went into effect. Citizenship is granted to those who reside in Indian territory and meet the following criteria:
- a person who was born on Indian land; or
- whose parents were both born on Indian land; or
- who, in the five years immediately before to the start of the Constitution, has typically resided in India.
Article 6: Citizenship of some people who emigrated from Pakistan
According to the Government of India Act of 1935, he or any of his parents or grandparents was born in India;
Anyone who migrated from Pakistan shall be an Indian citizen at the time the Constitution takes effect if-
(a) If such a person migrated before July 19th, 1948, and has lived in India regularly since his migration, either
(b) if the person immigrated after July 19th, 1948, and was registered as an Indian citizen by an officer designated in that capacity by the government of the Dominion of India on an application made by the person in question to the officer prior to the start of the Constitution; provided, however, that no person shall be so registered unless he has been a resident of India for at least six months immediately prior to the date of his application.
Article 7: Citizenship of some immigrants to Pakistan
This article addresses the rights of those who left India and then immigrated to Pakistan after March 1, 1947.
Article 8: Citizenship of some Indians with foreign addresses is outlined
This article discusses the rights of Indian nationals who live outside of India for employment, marriage, and educational reasons.
Article 9
People who freely become nationals of another nation are not considered Indian citizens.
Article 10
Any individual who is deemed to be an Indian citizen by any of the provisions of this Part must remain so and be bound by any laws passed by the Parliament.
Article 11: The right to citizenship may be governed by law.
The Parliament has the authority to establish any rules pertaining to the obtaining, losing, or changing of citizenship, as well as any other citizenship-related issues.
Acquisition:
- Section 3 (by day of birth): You will receive citizenship by birth in India if you are born there and both of your parents are Indian, or if one of your parents is Indian and the other is not an illegal immigrant.
- Section 4 (arranged by descent): Anyone born after December 3, 2004, outside of India, will only be eligible for Indian citizenship if their parents travel to that country within a year of the child’s birth.
- Registrant-only Section 5: In this section, various People categories are defined. It states that certain specific categories of people may also obtain Indian citizenship if they can submit an application to the national government. The following groups of people are capable.