Article 5. Citizenship at the commencement of the Constitution.—At the commencement of this Constitution, every person who has his domicile in the territory of India and— (a) who was born in the territory of India; or (b) either of whose parents was born in the territory of India; or (c) who has been ordinarily resident in the territory of India for not less than five years immediately preceding such commencement, shall be a citizen of India.
Explanation: Article 5 confers citizenship on every person having his domicile in India at the time of the commencement of this constitution if
a. he was born in the territory of India; or
b. either of whose parents was born in the territory of India; or
c. who has been ordinarily resident in the territory of India for not less than five years immediately preceding the commencement of the constitution.
Article 6. Rights of citizenship of certain persons who have migrated to India from Pakistan.— Notwithstanding anything in article 5, a person who has migrated to the territory of India from the territory now included in Pakistan shall be deemed to be a citizen of India at the commencement of this Constitution if— (a) he or either of his parents or any of his grand-parents was born in India as defined in the Government of India Act, 1935 (as originally enacted); and (b) (i) in the case where such person has so migrated before the nineteenth day of July 1948, he has been ordinarily resident in the territory of India since the date of his migration, or (ii) in the case where such person has so migrated on or after the nineteenth day of July 1948, he has been registered as a citizen of India by an officer appointed on that behalf by the Government of the Dominion of India on an application made by him therefore to such officer before the commencement of this Constitution in the form and manner prescribed by that Government: Provided that no person shall be so registered unless he has been resident in the territory of India for at least six months immediately preceding the date of his application.
Explanation: According to this article, a person who has migrated to the territory of India from the territory of Pakistan shall be deemed to be a citizen of India at the time of the commencement of this Constitution, if
(a) he or either of his parents or any of his grandparents was born in India as
defined in the Government of India Act, 1935 (as originally enacted); and
(b) (I) in the case where such persons has so migrated before 19 July 1948, he has been ordinarily resident in the territory of India since the date of his migration, or
(ii) in the case where such person has so migrated on or after the 19th July, 1948, he has been registered as a citizen of India by an officer appointed in that behalf by the Government of the Dominion of India on an application made by him to such an officer. But, no person shall be so registered unless he has been residing in India for at least 6 months immediately preceding the date of his application.
Article 7. Rights of citizenship of certain migrants to Pakistan.—Notwithstanding anything in articles 5 and 6, a person who has after the first day of March 1947, migrated from the territory of India to the territory now included in Pakistan shall not be deemed to be a citizen of India: Provided that nothing in this article shall apply to a person who, after having so migrated to the territory now included in Pakistan, has returned to the territory of India under a permit for resettlement or permanent return issued by or under the authority of any law and every such person shall for the purposes of clause (b) of article 6 be deemed to have migrated to the territory of India after the nineteenth day of July 1948.
Explanation: Article 7 makes special provisions regarding the citizenship rights of persons who migrated to Pakistan after March 1, 1947 but returned to India subsequently.
Article 7 says that a person who after March 1, 1947, migrated from the territory of India to the territory of Pakistan shall not be deemed to be a citizen of India.
Provided that nothing shall apply to a person who after having so migrated to Pakistan has returned to India under a permit for resettlement or permanent return issued by or under the authority of any law and every such person shall be deemed to have migrated to the territory of India after July 19, 1948.
Article 8. Rights of citizenship of certain persons of Indian origin residing outside India.—Notwithstanding anything in article 5, any person who or either of whose parents or any of whose grandparents was born in India as defined in the Government of India Act, 1935 (as originally enacted), and who is ordinarily residing in any country outside India as so defined shall be deemed to be a citizen of India if he has been registered as a citizen of India by the diplomatic or consular representative of India in the country where he is for the time being residing on an application made by him therefore to such diplomatic or consular representative, whether before or after the commencement of this Constitution, in the form and manner prescribed by the Government of the Dominion of India or the Government of India.
Article 9. Persons voluntarily acquiring citizenship of a foreign State not to be citizens.— No person shall be a citizen of India by virtue of article 5, or be deemed to be a citizen of India by virtue of article 6 or article 8, if he has voluntarily acquired the citizenship of any foreign State.
Explanation: Article 9 It says that a person shall be deprived of the citizenship of India, if he voluntarily acquires the citizenship of a foreign State.
Article 10. Continuance of the rights of citizenship.—Every person who is or is deemed to be a citizen of India under any of the foregoing provisions of this Part shall, subject to the provisions of any law that may be made by Parliament, continue to be such citizen.
Article 11. Parliament to regulate the right of citizenship by law.—Nothing in the foregoing provisions of this Part shall derogate from the power of Parliament to make any provision with respect to the acquisition and termination of citizenship and all other matters relating to citizenship.
Explanation: Article 11 empowers the Parliament to make a law on the subject of acquisition and termination of Indian Citizenship. Article 8 Rights of citizenship of certain persons of Indian origin residing outside India.
Indian Citizenship Act, 1955
It lays down elaborate provisions for the acquisition and termination of Indian citizenship after the commencement of the Constitution on January 26, 1950.
1. By Birth Every person born in India on or after 26th January, 1950 is a citizen of India by birth.
Exceptions
(i) Children born of foreign diplomatic personnel in India.
(ii) Children of enemy aliens whose
birth occurs in a place then under
occupation of the enemy.
2. By Descent A person born outside
India on or after 26th January 1950 shall be a citizen by descent if either
of his parents is a citizen of India at
the time of the person's birth.
3. By Registration A person
covered by (1) or (2) above may
acquire citizenship by registration
if he satisfies certain conditions. For
example, persons married to citizen of
India, persons of Indian origin.
4 By naturalization A foreigner
becomes a citizen of India when
his application for naturalization is
accepted by the Government of India.
5. By Incorporation of Territory If a new
territory becomes a part of India the
government shall specify the persons
of that territory who shall be citizen of
India.
Termination of Citizenship
The Indian Citizenship Act, 1955
envisages three situations under which
a citizen of India may lose his Indian
nationality.
1. By Renunciation If any citizen of India
who is also a citizen or national of
another country renounces his lndian
citizenship through a declaration in
prescribed manner, he ceases to be an
Indian citizen upon such declaration.
2. By Termination Any citizen of
India who has voluntarily acquired
citizenship by registration, etc. and who voluntarily acquires the citizenship of another country, ceases to be a citizen of India.
3. By Deprivation - A person who is a
citizen of India by naturalization or
by registration etc. may be deprived
of citizenship by an order of the
Government on the grounds such as
fraud or concealment of any material fact, he is disloyal towards the Constitution of India or has assisted the enemy during the war.
Single Citizenship
Our Constitution, though federal,
provides for one citizenship only I.e.
the citizenship of India. The civil and
political rights which are conferred by the
Constitution upon the citizens of India can
be equally claimed by any citizen of India
irrespective of his birth and residence in
any part of India. In federal States like
the USA and Switzerland there is a dual
citizenship, namely, national citizenship
and citizenship of the State where a person is born or permanently resides.
Non-Resident Indian (NRI)
NRI is a citizen of India who holds an
Indian passport and has temporarily
emigrated to another country for six
months or more for employment, residence, education or any other purpose
Persons of Indian Origin (PIO)
PIO is a person of Indian origin or
ancestry, who was or whose ancestors
were born in India or other states,
but have Indian ancestry but is not a
citizen of India and is citizen of another
country,
Persons of Indian Origin Card (PIO Card)
lt is a form of identification issued to PlO
who holds a passport in another county
other than Afghanistan, Bangladesh,
5hutan, China, Nepal, Pakistan and
Sri Lanka.
Overseas Citizenship of India Scheme
Overseas Citizenship of India
(OC) Scheme was introduced by amending the citizenship, 1955 in August 2005.
The scheme was launched during the Pravasiya Bhartiya Diwas convention 2006at Hyderabad.
The scheme provides for registration as Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) of all Persons of Indian Origin (PIOs) who were citizens of India on January,1950 or thereafter or were eligible to become citizens of India on 26th January, 1950 except who is or had been a citizen of Pakistan or Bangladesh or such other country as the central government may by notification in the official gazette specify.
Persons of Indian Origin (PIO) card scheme has been withdrawn by the Government of India and has been merged with Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) Card scheme with effect from January 9, 2015 .