AUTHORED BY: MS. RISHITHA.K, B.B.A.LL.B, 3RD YEAR STUDENT AT IFIM LAW COLLEGE & RESEARCH WRITER AT LAW AUDIENCE & EDITED BY: MS. SAKSHI SONKER, 4TH YEAR STUDENT, RAJIV GANDHI NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF LAW, PUNJAB & ASSISTANT EDITOR AT LAW AUDIENCE.
1. INTRODUCTION:
“Citizenship is the chance to make a difference to the place where you belong”
-Charles Handy.
Citizenship is a legal status acquired by a person in a state, wherein he is entitled to enjoy all the legal rights and privileges granted by the State and is obliged to obey the laws and fulfill the duties imposed by the State. A person who is not a citizen of any country is said to be stateless. India doesn’t permit multiple or dual citizenship.
2. MODES OF ACQUISITION AND TERMINATION UNDER THE CONSTITUTION:
Part- II of the Constitution from Art.5 to Art.11 deal with the modes of Acquiring and Termination of Citizenship[1].
I. MODES OF ACQUISITION UNDER THE CONSTITUTION:
A person can acquire the citizenship of India by three modes:
- By domicile.
- By Migration.
- By Registration.
a) By Domicile:
The word ‘domicile’ means a place where a person is said to have a permanent home. Thus, according to Art.5 of the Constitution of India a person who has a domicile in India at the time of commencement of the Constitution is said to be a citizen of India. In addition to the prior mentioned condition the person has to fulfill any one of the following mentioned conditions to acquire citizenship by domicile.
- By being born in India or
- If either of the parents are born in India or
- If a person was ordinarily residing in India preceding 5 years immediately after the commencement of the Constitution of India.
b) By Migration:
At the time of independence, huge masses of people migrated from Pakistan to India. Under Art. 6 an immigrant from Pakistan can acquire citizenship by fulfilling the following criterions.
- If his/ her parents or grandparents are born in India and
- If such person has migrated before 19.07.1948 and is an ordinary resident since the date of migration. or
- A person who migrates on or after the 19.07.1948 has to register with the officer appointed by the Government before the commencement of the Constitution in a form prescribed by the government. He should be an ordinary resident for a period of 6 months in the territory of India before such application is made.
- Even if a person migrated to Pakistan and returns back to India and resettles can acquire citizenship via registration.
c) By Registration:
According to Art.8, a person who is residing out of the territory of India can acquire citizenship by registering himself with the diplomatic or consular representative of India in the country of Residence. By fulfilling the following conditions:
- He is born in India or
- His parents or grandparents are born in India.
II. PROVISIONS RELATING TO TERMINATION OF CITIZENSHIP UNDER THE CONSTITUTION:
Art.7: If a person migrates to Pakistan after 01.03.1947 shall not be deemed to be a citizen of India.
Art.9: If a person voluntarily acquires citizenship of another country then his Indian citizenship ceases to exist.
According to Art.10,
A person shall continue to be a citizen until the parliament makes a law which seizes a person’s citizenship. The power of the parliament to regulate the citizenship rights by law is elaborated in Art.11 of the Constitution.
3. CITIZENSHIP UNDER THE CITIZENSHIP ACT, 1955:
The parliament in the exercise of its power granted in Art.11 of the Indian Constitution has passed the Indian Citizenship Act, 1955, making provisions for acquisition and termination of citizenship after the commencement of the Constitution.
I. MODES OF ACQUISITION UNDER THE ACT:
According to the Act, citizenship can be acquired in 5 ways[2]:
- Birth
- Descent
- Registration
- Naturalization And
- Incorporation of Territory.
a) By Birth:
A person can acquire citizenship by birth if:
- he is born in India or
- Either or both of his parents are born in India and neither of them are illegal immigrants of India.
A person cannot acquire citizenship by birth if:
- His parents have diplomatic immunity or not citizens of India
- His parents are an enemy alien or the birth occurs at the place under the occupation of such enemy.
b) By Descent:
A person born outside India can be a citizen of India by descent.
- A person born outside India on after 26 January 1951 is citizen of India by descent, if at the time of his birth his father is an Indian citizen- but
a) When his birth is registered at an Indian consulate or
b) His father is at the time of his birth on service under Government of India.
Similarly, any person born outside the Territory of undivided India who was or deemed to be a citizen of India at the commencement of the Constitution is also considered to be a citizen of India by Descent only.
c) By Registration:
A person can acquire citizenship by registering.
- Person of Indian origin or parents who were born in undivided India and who are ordinarily resident in India for seven years.
- Persons of Indian origin who are ordinarily residents in any country or place outside undivided India.
- Persons who are or have been married to a citizen of India and who are ordinarily resident in India for five years.
- Minor children both whose parents are Indian citizens.
- A citizen of Singapore and Canada who is resident in India for five years and eight years respectively.
d) By Naturalization:
Citizenship of India can be acquired by a foreigner who is ordinarily residing India for a period of 12 years (continuously for the twelve months preceding the date of application and for eleven years in the aggregate in the fourteen years preceding the twelve months).
e) By Incorporation of Territory:
If any new territory becomes a part of India, the Government of India shall specify the persons of the territory to be citizens of India.
II. TERMINATION OF CITIZENSHIP UNDER THE ACT:
The citizenship of a person can be terminated by 3 modes:
- By renunciation of the citizenship
- By operation of law
- By deprivation
a) By Renunciation:
A person of full age and capacity in a prescribed manner can renounce the citizenship of India. But such application will be withheld during the time of emergency or war. If a married couple renounces their citizenship, their child also ceases to be an Indian citizen unless one year after attaining majority the child applies via registration for citizenship shall continue to be a citizen of India.
b) By Operation of Law:
If a person gets the citizenship of another country then the Indian citizenship ceases to exist as multiple or dual citizenships is not permitted in India.
c) By Deprivation:
If a person has acquired citizenship by fraudulent means then the government of India has the power to deprive the person of his citizenship.
4. OVERSEAS CITIZENSHIP OF INDIA:
If a person has migrated from India to other countries, then he is said to be an OCI, unless the country permits OCI citizenship.
Overseas citizenship can’t be considered as Dual citizenship as the person won’t get the following privileges:
- They do not have the right to vote.
- They cannot hold an Indian passport.
- They are not eligible for Constitutional posts.
- They cannot be a member of the legislature of any house.
Thus, a person who wants to acquire Indian citizenship can make use of the provisions under either the Constitution of India or the Citizenship Act of 1955.
[1] Art. 5 & 11, The Constitution of India
[2] The Indian Citizenship Act, 1955
