Laxmikanth Ch 6: Citizenship (CAPF Digest)

The idea in one line

The Constitution (Articles 5 to 11) settled who was a citizen at commencement and left the rest to Parliament, which legislated the Citizenship Act 1955, the detailed code for acquiring and losing Indian citizenship under a single-citizenship scheme.

The constitutional Articles

• Articles 5 to 11 deal with citizenship but identify citizens only as on 26 January 1950. They do not cover acquisition or loss after that, which Article 11 leaves to Parliament.
• Article 5: citizenship at commencement for those domiciled in India.
• Articles 6 and 7: provisions for migrants to and from Pakistan.
• Article 8: rights of persons of Indian origin residing abroad.
• Article 9: a person who voluntarily acquires foreign citizenship is not an Indian citizen.
• Article 10 and 11: continuance of citizenship and Parliament's power to regulate it.

The Citizenship Act 1955

Acquisition of citizenship in five ways:

1. By birth.
2. By descent.
3. By registration.
4. By naturalisation.
5. By incorporation of territory.

Loss of citizenship in three ways:

1. By renunciation (voluntary).
2. By termination (when a citizen voluntarily acquires the citizenship of another country).
3. By deprivation (a compulsory termination by the Government, for example for fraud or disloyalty).

Single citizenship

India provides for a single citizenship, unlike the United States or Switzerland, which have dual citizenship (of the country and of the State). Every Indian is a citizen of India only, not of any State, which promotes national unity. India does not permit dual citizenship in the sense of holding two countries' passports at once.

Overseas Citizen of India (OCI)

The OCI scheme allows persons of Indian origin abroad to register and enjoy certain benefits (a lifelong visa, parity with non-resident Indians in many fields). An OCI is not a citizen of India: an OCI cannot vote, cannot hold constitutional offices, and cannot buy agricultural land. The earlier Persons of Indian Origin (PIO) card scheme was merged into the OCI scheme.

The 2019 amendment (factual, not contested here)

The Citizenship (Amendment) Act 2019 created a relaxed path to citizenship by naturalisation for certain migrants (Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians) from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan who entered India on or before 31 December 2014. State it as a fact and verify the latest position on its rules.

CAPF angle: lock the firsts and counts. Five modes of acquisition, three modes of loss, single citizenship, and the rule that OCI is not citizenship. The human-rights and internal-security overlay is real here: citizenship determination, the National Register of Citizens (NRC) exercise in Assam, and the treatment of foreigners and refugees are recurring CAPF themes. India is not a party to the 1951 Refugee Convention, so refugees are governed mainly by the Foreigners Act 1946 and executive policy; see human rights and internal security.