Citizenship

Citizenship is a legal concept denoting the status of an individual as being a member of a political entity ie. sovereign state.

Citizens are full members of a state and enjoy all civil and political rights within the state. The citizenship of a person can be changed.

Citizenship in India

• In India, Articles 5 – 11 of the Constitution deals with the concept of citizenship. The term citizenship entails the enjoyment of full membership of any State in which a citizen has civil and political rights.
• The main legislation dealing with citizenship is The Citizenship Act, 1955. It has been amended by the Citizenship (Amendment) Act 1986, the Citizenship (Amendment) Act 1992, the Citizenship (Amendment) Act 2003, and the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2005.
• The nationality law of India is primarily based on citizenship by right of blood (jus sanguinis) and not citizenship by right of birth within a territory (jus soli).

Important Constituional Provisions

Article 5 (Citizenship by domicile)

• A person who was born in India or either of the person’s parents was born in India or the person must have been an ordinarily resident in the territory of India for not less than five years immediately before the commencement of the constitution.
• In Pradeep Jain v. Union of India the Supreme Court held that in India Article 5 recognizes only one domicile viz., domicile of India.

Article 6 (Citizenship of migrants to India from Pakistan)

• Persons who have migrated from Pakistan to India have been classified into two categories:
  • Those who came to India before July 19, 1948, and
  • Those that came on or after July 19, 1948.
• In the case of persons migrating before July 19, 1948, if the person has been ordinarily residing in India since the date of her migration, and in case of a person migrating on or after July 19, 1948, if he/she has been registered as a citizen of India, after residing for at least six months immediately before the date of applying for registration, by an officer appointed by the government of India, shall be deemed to be a citizen of India.

Article 7 (Citizenship of migrants of Pakistan)

• If a citizen of India has migrated to Pakistan after March 1, 1947, but returned to India on the basis of permit for resettlement in India, the person is entitled to become a citizen of India if he/she registers herself as a citizen of India, after residing for at least six months immediately before the date of applying for registration, by an officer appointed by the government of India.
• In Bhawanrao Khan v. Union of India, the SC held that those who had voluntarily migrated to Pakistan and became citizens of Pakistan cannot claim the citizenship of India on the ground that they had been living in India for a long time and their names have been included in the voters list.

Article 8 (Citizenship of persons of Indian origin residing outside India)

• Indian nationals (whose parents or any grandparents were born in India as defined in the Government of India Act, 1935) residing abroad shall be conferred Indian citizenship, as if they have been registered by the diplomatic or consular representatives of India in the country where they are residing.

Citizenship Act, 1955

The Act provides for acquisition of Indian citizenship in the following ways:

1. Citizenship by Birth
   • Anyone born in India on or after January 1, 1950, would be deemed a citizen by birth. This limit was further amended to include those born between January 1, 1950 and July 1, 1987.
   • By the Citizenship Amendment Act, 2003, persons born after December 3, 2004, would be deemed to be citizens of India if either of the parents is Indian or one of the parents is a citizen of India and the other was not an illegal migrant at the time of the person’s birth.
   • Illegal migrant means a foreigner who has entered India: without a valid passport or travel documents; or with a valid passport or travel documents but remained in the country beyond the permitted period.
2. Citizenship by Descent
   • A person born outside India shall be deemed to be a citizen of India if either of the person’s parents was a citizen of India at the time of his/her birth provided that the birth is registered within one year of its occurrence or commencement of the Act, whichever is later, at the Indian consulate.
3. Citizenship by Registration
   • A person may be registered as a citizen of India, if the person is married to a citizen of India or has been a resident of India for five years immediately before making an application for registration.
4. Citizenship by Naturalization
   • A person is granted a certificate of naturalization if the person is not an illegal migrant and has resided in India for 12 months before making an application to seek the certificate.
   • Of the 14 years preceding this 12-months duration, the person must have stayed in India for 11 years.
5. Citizenship 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.
6. Termination of Citizenship
   • The Citizenship Act, 1955 cites three reasons for the termination of citizenship;
     • Voluntary Renunciation
     • By Termination
     • By Deprivation

Amendments to the Act

The 1986 amendment

• The 1986 amendment stipulates that to be a citizen of India, one of the parents had to be an Indian citizen at the time of birth.

The 1992 amendment

• The 1992 amendment states a person born outside India shall be a citizen of India by descent, on or after January 26, 1950, but before December 10, 1992, if his father is a citizen of India at the time of his birth.

The 2003 amendment

• The 2003 amendment introduced the notion of illegal immigrants and also mandated the Government of India to conduct a National Register of Citizens (NRC).

The 2005 amendment

• To accommodate the growing overseas Indian population, at the turn of the millennium, the parliament introduced the concepts of Person of Indian Origin (PIO) and Overseas Citizen of India (OCI). They were granted certain limited citizenship rights through an amendment made in 2005.

The 2015 amendment

• The 2015 amendment introduced the concept of an Overseas Citizen of India Cardholder (an OCC) that essentially replaced and merged OCIs and PIOs. The merging of the two schemes provided PIO cardholders with the benefits extended to OCIs, such as visa-free travel to India, rights of residency and participation in business and educational activities in the country.