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CITIZENSHIP (PART 11) CITIZENSHIP ACT OF 1955

Citizenship constitutes the indispensable foundational principle of democratic polity. It involves the individual’s full political membership in the state. The citizenship brings certain rights, duties, privileges and obligations, that do not belong to aliens. All public offices are open to a citizen, he is eligible for recruitment to all public services. The right to vote and certain fundamental rights are available only to citizens and citizens have obligation like paying taxes,defending nation etc.
Citizenship may viewed as the legal relationship between the individual and the state under which the individual pledges his loyality to the state and the state offers its protection to the individual. This relationship is regulated by national law and recognised by international law.
Article 5-8 conferred citizenship on ‘every person’ who was covered under one of the following categories at the time of commencement of the Constitution:
 Domiciled in India and born in India-these formed the bulk of population of the Union of India.
 Domiciled, not born in India but either of whose parents was born in India;
 Domiciled, not born in India but ordinary resident for more than five years
 Resident in India but migrated to Pakistan after 1 March 1947 and later returned to India on resettlement permit.
 Resident in Pakistan but who migrated to India before 19th July 1948 0r who came after that date but had resided in India for more than six months and got registered in the prescribed manner;
 Resident outside India but who or either of whose parents or grandparents were born in India.
Thus, citizenship at the commencement of the constitution included provisions for citizenship
a) By domicile
b) Of migration from and to Pakistan
c) Of Indians residing in foreign countries.
Domicile is an important criterion for citizenship of any country.The term domicile is not defined in Indian Constitution.domicile ordinarily connotes a person’s residence
Acquisition of Citizenship after January 26,1950.
The various modes of acquisition of citizenship prescribed by the Citizen Act 1955 are as follows:
 Citizenship by birth. Every person born in India on or after January 26, 1950, shall be a citizen of India by birth.
 Citizenship by descent. Broadly speaking, a person born outside India on or after January 26, 1950, shall be a citizen of India by descent, if either of his parents is a citizen of India at the time of the person’s birth.
 Citizenship by registration. Several classes of persons can acquire Indian citizenship by registering themselves to that effect before the prescribed authority,
 Citizenship by naturalisation. A foreigner can acquire Indian citizenship, on application for naturalisation to the Government of India.
 Citizenship by incorporation of territory. If any new territory becomes a part of India, the Government of India shall specify the persons of that territory who shall be the citizen of India.
Loss of Indian Citizenship
The Citizenship act,1955,also lays down how the citizenship of India may be lost,whether it was acquired under the citizenship Act,1955 or prior to it under the provisions of the constitution.It may happen in any of the three ways-renunciation,termination and deprivation.
 Renunciation is a voluntary act by which a person holding the citizenship of India as well as that of another country may abjure one of them.
 Termination shall take place by operation of law as soon as a citizen of India voluntarily acquires the citizenship of another country.
 Deprivation is a compulsory termination of the citizenship of India, by an order of the Government of India, If it is satisfied as to the happening of certain contingencies, eg, that Indian citizenship had been acquired by a person by fraud, or that he has shown himself to be disloyal or disaffected towards the Constitution of India.

It is important to remember in regard to the citizenship provisions in the Constitution and the law that it was in keeping with the aim of building an integrated Indian nation and a united fraternity that the Constitution-makers decided to provide for a single Indian Citizenship. All citizens irrespective of the state in which they were born have the same rights and duties all over the country without any discrimination subject only to a few protections in case of Jammu&Kashmir, tribal areas etc.