Laxmikanth Summary: Citizenship - Indian Polity for UPSC CSE PDF Download

Meaning and Significance

• In India, the population is classified into two broad categories: citizens and aliens. A citizen is a full member of the Indian State and enjoys the full suite of civil and political rights guaranteed by the Constitution and law.
• An alien is a person who is a national of some other country. Aliens do not enjoy all the rights available to citizens. They are further described as either friendly aliens or enemy aliens depending on their country's relationship with India.
• Friendly aliens are nationals of countries that have cordial relations with India and therefore are normally allowed greater freedom to enter, reside or work in India subject to immigration and other laws. Enemy aliens are nationals of countries at war with India; during such times they may be subject to restrictions and special controls.
• Citizens of India enjoy a range of constitutional rights, including:
  • Right against discrimination on grounds of religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth (Article 15).
  • Right to equality of opportunity in public employment (Article 16).
  • Fundamental freedoms such as speech and expression, assembly, association, movement, residence and profession (Article 19).
  • Cultural and educational rights protecting minorities and cultural groups (Articles 29 and 30).
  • Political rights such as the right to vote in elections to the Lok Sabha and state legislative assemblies, and the right to contest elections for membership of Parliament and state legislatures.
  • Eligibility to hold certain constitutional and public offices such as President, Vice-President, judges of the Supreme Court and High Courts, Governors, Attorney General and Advocate General subject to other constitutional qualifications.
• Citizenship also carries duties towards the State, for example paying lawful taxes, respecting national symbols and, when required, defending the country.
• Under the Indian Constitution, both citizens by birth and naturalised citizens are eligible for the office of the President of India; unlike some countries where only citizens by birth can hold certain offices.

Single Citizenship

• The Indian Constitution establishes a federal polity with a dual political structure-the Union and the states. Despite federalism, India provides for single citizenship only; every citizen of India is a citizen of the Union and of the states without separate state citizenship.
• Single citizenship means that a citizen owes allegiance to the Union and enjoys uniform political and civil rights throughout the territory of India. This contrasts with countries that permit dual or separate state citizenship (for example the practice of state-specific residency rights in some federations), which can allow differential rights and privileges based on subnational affiliation.
• The single citizenship framework helps prevent discrimination by ensuring uniformity in rights such as voting, public employment and mobility across states; however, Parliament and state legislatures can lawfully prescribe residence-based conditions for certain employments or benefits that are not inconsistent with constitutional guarantees.
• Article 19 protects freedom of movement and residence across India but permits reasonable restrictions. Special statutory or constitutional provisions restrict outsiders from settling in certain tribal or protected areas in order to safeguard the interests, culture and land rights of scheduled tribes.
• Until 2019, the State of Jammu and Kashmir enjoyed special provisions defining permanent residents and conferring particular rights under Article 35A. These special provisions were effectively abrogated in 2019.
• Although single citizenship is intended to foster fraternity and national integration, India continues to face communal, caste, linguistic and ethnic challenges which show that legal citizenship alone does not ensure full social integration.

Constitutional Provisions (Articles on Citizenship)

The Constitution provides transitional and foundational rules on citizenship in the immediate post-Independence period. These provisions determined who became an Indian citizen at the commencement of the Constitution (26 January 1950) and how citizenship would be dealt with by law:

Article 5 - A person who had his domicile in India and who fulfilled any one of the following conditions at the commencement of the Constitution was a citizen of India:

• he was born in India; or
• either of his parents was born in India; or
• he had been ordinarily resident in India for not less than five years immediately preceding the commencement of the Constitution.

Article 6 - Deals with persons who migrated to India from Pakistan and prescribes conditions for their acquisition of Indian citizenship:

• If a person migrated to India from Pakistan, he could become an Indian citizen if he or either of his parents or any of his grandparents was born in undivided India and he satisfied one of the following:
• (i) If migration to India took place before 19 July 1948, he had been ordinarily resident in India since the date of his migration.
• (ii) If migration took place on or after 19 July 1948, he had been registered as a citizen of India; registration was permitted only if he had been resident in India for six months immediately before the date of his application for registration.

Article 7 - Provides for persons who migrated to Pakistan from India after 1 March 1947 and who later returned to India for the purpose of resettlement. Such a person could become an Indian citizen provided he was resident in India for six months preceding the date of his application for registration.

Article 8 - A person who, or any of whose parents or grandparents, was born in undivided India but who is ordinarily residing outside India may become an Indian citizen if registered as such by an Indian diplomatic or consular representative in the country of his residence.

Article 9 - No person shall be a citizen of India if he has voluntarily acquired the citizenship of any foreign state.

Article 10 - Every person who is or is deemed to be a citizen of India shall continue to be such citizen, subject to any law made by Parliament.

Article 11 - Empowers Parliament to regulate the right of citizenship by law. (Illustrative materials or historical notes are sometimes placed alongside Article 11; see image below.)

Parliament shall have the power to make any provision with respect to the acquisition and termination of citizenship and all other matters relating to citizenship.

Citizenship Act, 1955

• The Citizenship Act, 1955 is the principal statute that sets out the rules for acquisition, termination and regulation of Indian citizenship after the commencement of the Constitution.
• The Act has been amended at various times to reflect changing circumstances. Earlier references to Commonwealth citizenship in the Act were repealed in 2003.

Acquisition of Citizenship

Citizenship under the Act can be acquired by several modes. The primary categories are by birth, by descent, by registration, by naturalisation and by incorporation of territory.

(A) By Birth

• A person born in India on or after 26 January 1950 but before 1 July 1987 is a citizen of India by birth irrespective of the nationality of his parents.
• A person born in India on or after 1 July 1987 is a citizen of India by birth only if at least one of his parents is a citizen of India at the time of his birth.

(B) By 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 his father was a citizen of India at the time of his birth.
• A person born on or after 3 December 2004 outside India is not a citizen of India by descent unless his birth is registered at an Indian consulate within one year of the date of birth or with the permission of the Central Government.

(C) By Registration

• A person of Indian origin who is ordinarily resident in India for seven years before making an application for registration.
• A person who is married to an Indian citizen and is ordinarily resident in India for seven years before making an application for registration.
• A person of full age and capacity whose parents are registered as citizens of India.

(D) By Naturalisation

The Central Government may grant a certificate of naturalisation to an applicant (other than an illegal migrant) if the applicant satisfies statutory qualifications. Typical conditions include:

• The applicant is not a subject or citizen of any country that prevents citizens of India from becoming citizens of that country by naturalisation.
• If the applicant is a citizen of another country, he undertakes to renounce that foreign citizenship if his application for Indian citizenship is accepted.
• During the fourteen years immediately preceding the period of twelve months before the application, the applicant has been in India or in the service of the Government of India for periods aggregating at least eleven years (combined service and residence).

(E) By Incorporation of Territory

• If any foreign territory becomes a part of India, the Central Government may specify which persons in that territory shall become Indian citizens from the notified date. An example is the Citizenship (Pondicherry) Order, 1962 made after the incorporation of Pondicherry.

Special Provisions

• Assam Accord and migrants: Certain persons covered by the Assam Accord have special provisions for citizenship based on continuous residence and registration as provided under statutes and executive orders.
• Migrants from Afghanistan, Bangladesh or Pakistan: Recent legislative changes and amendments have provided special pathways for migrants belonging to specified minority communities who entered India before 31 December 2014 to obtain citizenship. Prior to the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019, various exemptions and long-term visa arrangements were in place for some groups; the 2019 amendment further changed the legal scheme for certain migrants (see statutory text for exact provisions and eligibility criteria).

Loss of Citizenship

Indian citizenship may cease in one of three principal ways: renunciation, termination (by voluntary acquisition of foreign citizenship) and deprivation (compulsory loss by government action).

(A) By Renunciation

• Any citizen of India of full age and capacity may make a declaration renouncing Indian citizenship. Once the declaration is registered in accordance with law, the person ceases to be an Indian citizen.
• There are statutory exceptions and specific rules applicable during wartime and in other extraordinary circumstances.

(B) By Termination

• If an Indian citizen voluntarily, consciously and without duress acquires the citizenship of another country, his Indian citizenship automatically terminates. (Statutory exceptions may apply during wartime or under specified conditions.)

(C) By Deprivation

• The Central Government may compulsorily terminate Indian citizenship where it is satisfied that the citizenship has been obtained by fraud, false representation or concealment of material facts.
• Deprivation may also be ordered if the citizen unlawfully traded or communicated with the enemy during a war, or if the person has been ordinarily resident outside India for seven years continuously (subject to statutory procedures).

Overseas Citizenship of India (OCI)

Overseas Citizenship of India (OCI) is a statutory category created to facilitate a long-term relationship between India and persons of Indian origin who are citizens of other countries. OCI provides multiple privileges to qualifying non-resident persons while preserving the principle that Indian citizenship is not held simultaneously (i.e., OCI is not full dual citizenship).

• In September 2000 the Government of India appointed a High-Level Committee on the Indian Diaspora chaired by L. M. Singhvi to study the global Indian diaspora and recommend measures to strengthen ties. The committee recommended amending the Citizenship Act, 1955 to provide an arrangement analogous to dual citizenship for Persons of Indian Origin (PIOs) from specified countries.

• The Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2003 introduced provisions that allowed certain categories of Persons of Indian Origin (from a specified list of countries) to be granted a form of long-term status termed Overseas Citizenship of India (OCI). The 2003 amendments also removed earlier references to Commonwealth citizenship from the principal Act.
• The Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2005 further expanded OCI eligibility to include PIOs from all countries that permit dual citizenship under their laws.
• The OCI is not the same as legal dual citizenship under the Constitution; rather it is a statutory category that confers certain rights and privileges but excludes political rights and certain employment rights reserved for Indian citizens.
• The Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2015 merged the existing PIO card scheme with the OCI card scheme to avoid confusion. The PIO scheme was terminated on 9 January 2015, and existing PIO cardholders were deemed to be OCI cardholders from that date.

The 2015 amendment also changed terminology and added specific provisions to the principal Act relating to registration and rights of OCI cardholders.

Registration of Overseas Citizen of India Cardholder

The Central Government may register persons as Overseas Citizen of India cardholders if they meet specified criteria. Typical categories of eligible persons include:

• Individuals who were citizens of India at the time of, or at any time after, the commencement of the Constitution, or who were eligible to be citizens at that time.
• Persons who were citizens of territories that later became part of India after 15 August 1947.
• Minor children of eligible persons, and persons both of whose parents are Indian citizens or one of whose parents is an Indian citizen.
• Spouses of Indian citizens or of OCI cardholders of foreign origin, subject to the condition that the marriage has been registered for at least two years.
• Certain categories or persons and their ancestors from specified countries (for example, persons with connections to Pakistan or Bangladesh) are expressly not eligible for registration as OCI cardholders under the statutory scheme.

Conferment of Rights on Overseas Citizen of India Cardholders

• OCI cardholders are entitled to certain rights and facilities as may be specified by the Central Government, such as multiple entry, multi-purpose lifelong visa to visit India, and parity with NRIs in economic, financial and educational fields except in matters that are reserved for Indian citizens.
• OCI cardholders are not entitled to certain fundamental and political rights available only to Indian citizens, including the right to vote, the right to stand for public office, the right to hold certain public employments, or to be registered as an elector.

Renunciation of Overseas Citizen of India Card

• An OCI cardholder may renounce his/her overseas citizen status by executing and registering a declaration of renunciation with the Central Government.
• On registration of the declaration, the individual ceases to be an OCI cardholder.
• Where applicable, the renunciation of an OCI cardholder may also affect the OCI status of the spouse and minor children of the cardholder as provided by law.

Cancellation of Registration as Overseas Citizen of India Cardholder

• The Central Government may cancel the registration of a person as an OCI cardholder if the registration was obtained by fraudulent means or if the cardholder engages in activities showing disaffection towards the Indian Constitution, or is involved in acts considered prejudicial to national security, public order or public welfare.
• Other grounds for cancellation include conviction for specified offences, violation of citizenship laws, or undertaking activities contrary to the conditions of registration.
• Statutory safeguards require that, before cancellation, the individual normally has the right to be heard. The Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 introduced or clarified procedural protections including the right of representation and hearing before cancellation.

Summary: This chapter explains the constitutional and statutory framework of Indian citizenship. It covers the foundational constitutional provisions (Articles 5-11), the Citizenship Act, 1955 and its modes of acquisition (birth, descent, registration, naturalisation and incorporation of territory), grounds and procedures for loss of citizenship, and the statutory scheme of Overseas Citizenship of India (OCI) including registration, rights, renunciation and cancellation. The law has evolved by amendment to address historical circumstances, migrants' needs and India's relationship with its global diaspora; statutory texts and government notifications provide detailed procedural rules and eligibility criteria.