“Law Master’s Publication”
“Citizen”
Prof. Santosh D. Bhosale 13
(..3..)
CITIZENSHIP
(Art. 5 To 11)
QUESTION BANK
Q.1. Discuss the scheme of Citizenship adopted by the Constitution.
Q.2. Explain the modes of acquisition and termination of citizenship according to
the Indian Citizenship Act, 1955.
Q.3 What is Citizenship? Discuss provisions relating to acquisition and
termination of Citizenship under the Law.
Q.4 State and explain the provisions relating to citizenship in Constitution and
under Citizenship Act.
Q.5 Discuss the modes of acquiring citizenship in India according to the
constitution.
SHORT NOTES
1.
Citizenship by domicile,
2.
3.
Termination of citizenship
Loss of citizenship,
4.
Acquisition of citizenship
TABLE OF CONTENT
Meaning of Citizenship ........................................................................................14
Citizens by Domicile (Art.5): -.............................................................................14
Citizens by Registration:- ...................................................................................15
Citizenship by Birth (S. 3):-................................................................................15
Citizenship by descent (S. 4):-...........................................................................16
Citizenship by Naturalisation (S. 6). ...................................................................16
Commonwealth Citizenship (S. 11):-...................................................................17
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I]
Meaning of Citizenship:-
The population of the State is divided into two classes- Citizens and aliens.
Citizens of the State are the backbone of the State. A citizen of a State is a person
who enjoys full civil and political rights, but an alien does not enjoy these rights.
For example, certain fundamental rights (e.g. under Art.15, 16, 19, 29 and 30) are
available only to citizens of India and some of the important offices. Under the
Constitution (e.g., President, Vice-President, Judge of the Supreme Court, etc.),
citizens can only occupy it. In addition, the right to vote and contest an election is
available only to the citizens of India.
Though India is a federation with two levels of government (Dual Polity), there is
single citizenship, i.e. Indian Citizenship and no separate Citizenship of a State.
The question of deciding citizenship seriously arose in India due to the
partition of India into two independent States, viz., ‘India’ and ‘Pakistan’. Hence,
citizenship is studied in two parts: (i) Citizenship at the commencement of the
constitution. and (ii) Citizenship after the commencement of the constitution.
II] Citizenship At The Commencement Of The Constitution:-
Arts. 5 to 11 of the Constitution lay down the rules for deciding who were
the citizens of India at the time of its commencement, which was January 26, 1950.
1)
Citizens by Domicile (Art.5): -
Under Art. 5, every person having domicile in India at the commencement
of the Constitution is a citizen of India if he fulfils any of the following conditions
-
i)
He was born in India, or
ii) Either of whose parents were born in India, or
iii) Who has been ordinarily resident in India for not less than five
years immediately preceding (before) the commencement of the
Constitution?
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“Citizen”
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Therefore, Citizenship = Domicile + (a) or (b) or (c).
Citizenship by Migration (Art. 6):-
2)
A person who migrated to India from Pakistan can become an Indian
citizen if-
(i) he or
(ii) either of his parents, or
(iii) any of his grandparents was born in undivided India and any one of
the following two conditions-
a) If he migrated to India before 19 July 1948, he has ordinarily
resided in India since that date.
b) If he had migrated to India after 19 July 1948, he would have
become an Indian citizen. However, a person could be registered
as an Indian citizen only if he had been resident in India for six
months before such application for registration.
Citizens by Registration:-
3)
According to Art. 8, a person who, or either of whose parents or any of
whose grandparents, was born in India (before independence) but who is residing
in any country outside India and Pakistan may register himself as a citizen of India
(with a diplomatic or consular representative of India in the country of his
residence).
This provision confers Indian citizenship on a person who, prima facie, has
no domicile in India.
III] ACQUISITION OF CITIZENSHIP AFTER COMMENCEMENT OF
THE CONSTITUTION (The Citizenship Act. 1955):-
The above provisions of the Constitution are confined mainly to defining
who the citizens of India were at the commencement of the Constitution. It does
not deal with the problem of how to acquire citizenship after the commencement
of the constitution, termination of citizenship or other matters concerning
citizenship.
Therefore, under Art.11, Parliament enacted the Citizenship Act of 1955.
This Act provides for the acquisition, termination, and deprivation of citizenship.
It does not confer citizenship on a company, association, body of individuals, etc.
The Act provides the following five modes of acquiring Indian citizenship.
1)
Citizenship by Birth (S. 3):-
A person born in India on or after the 26th of January 1950 is a citizen of
India by birth except when-
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“Citizen”
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i) His father possesses diplomatic immunity and is not an Indian citizen or
ii) His father is an enemy alien and is born at a place under enemy occupation
Citizenship by descent (S. 4):-
2)
A person born outside India on or after Jan 26, 1950, is a citizen of India by
descent if either of his parents was an Indian citizen at the time of his birth.
3)
Citizenship by Registration (S. 5):-
The following categories of persons, if not already citizens of India, can be
registered as Indian citizens after taking an oath of allegiance:-
a) Persons of Indian origin who are ordinarily residents of India and have
resided there for five years immediately preceding (before) the
application for registration.
b) Persons of Indian origin who are ordinarily resident in any country or
place outside India.
c) Person married to an Indian citizen;
d) Minor children of Indian citizens.
e) Persons of full age and capacity who are citizens of Commonwealth
4)
A person of full age and capacity who is a citizen of any country may
become a citizen by naturalisation after taking an oath of allegiance if the Central
Government is satisfied that he fulfils the conditions laid down in the Act.
These conditions are: -
a) He is not a subject or citizen of a country where Indian citizens are
prevented from becoming citizens by naturalisation.
b) He has renounced citizenship in another country.
c) He has either residence in India or has been in Government service for
12 months before the date of making the application for naturalisation
or during seven years before those 12 months; he has resided or has
been in Government service for not less than four years.
d) He is of good character,
e) He has adequate knowledge of a language recognised by the
Constitution.
f) After naturalisation, he should intend to reside in India.
1
The countries ruled by Britishers, such as, U.S.A., Canada, Australia, Newzeland, etc-
2
Naturalisation:- admit (a person of foreign birth ) to full citizenship of the country.
“Law Master’s Publication”
5) Commonwealth Citizenship (S. 11):-
S.11 of the Act provides that every citizen of a Commonwealth Country
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shall have the status of Commonwealth Citizenship in India by virtue of that
citizenship.
IV] TERMINATION OF CITIZENSHIP:-
The Citizenship Act 1955 provides modes of termination of citizenship, viz.-
1)
By Renunciation:-
If a person renounces Indian citizenship with citizenship of any other
country by registration, his citizenship in India is terminated.
2)
3)
By acquisition of citizenship of another country:-
Deprivation of citizenship:-
Deprivation is a compulsory termination of citizenship in India by the
Central Government.
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