BharatNotes What is Citizenship (Articles 5-11)?
Part II of the Constitution of India (Articles 5-11), titled "Citizenship," establishes who was to be regarded as a citizen of India at the commencement of the Constitution (26 January 1950) and empowers Parliament to legislate on citizenship thereafter. Crucially, these articles addressed citizenship only as it stood at commencement—largely to settle the citizenship status of people displaced by the 1947 Partition. India adopts single citizenship: a citizen owes allegiance to the Union alone, with no separate state citizenship.
Article-by-Article Breakdown
| Article | Subject |
|---|---|
| Article 5 | Citizenship at commencement—domicile in India plus birth in India, parent born in India, or five years' ordinary residence |
| Article 6 | Rights of citizenship of persons who migrated to India from Pakistan |
| Article 7 | Rights of citizenship of certain migrants to Pakistan (including those who later returned under a resettlement permit) |
| Article 8 | Citizenship of persons of Indian origin residing outside India |
| Article 9 | Person voluntarily acquiring foreign citizenship is not an Indian citizen |
| Article 10 | Continuance of the rights of citizenship, subject to laws made by Parliament |
| Article 11 | Parliament's power to regulate the right of citizenship by law |
Article 7 contains a "notwithstanding" clause overriding Articles 5 and 6: those who migrated to Pakistan after 1 March 1947 are not deemed citizens, except returnees holding a resettlement permit. Article 9 is the basis for India's prohibition of dual citizenship.
The Citizenship Act, 1955
Under Article 11, Parliament enacted the Citizenship Act, 1955, which lays down five modes of acquiring citizenship—by birth, by descent, by registration, by naturalisation, and by incorporation of territory—and provides for its loss by renunciation, termination, and deprivation. Key dated thresholds for citizenship by birth:
- Born in India between 26 January 1950 and 1 July 1987: citizen by birth, regardless of parents' nationality.
- Born on or after 1 July 1987: citizen if either parent is an Indian citizen at birth.
- Born on or after 3 December 2004: citizen if both parents are citizens, or one is a citizen and the other is not an illegal migrant.
Current Status (as of June 2026)
The Overseas Citizenship of India (OCI) scheme, introduced by amending the 1955 Act in August 2005, is often misread as dual citizenship—but it is not. OCI cardholders cannot vote, hold constitutional office, or buy agricultural land; India still bars genuine dual nationality (Article 9).
The Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 offers an accelerated path to citizenship for Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh who entered India on or before 31 December 2014, reducing the naturalisation residency requirement for them. The enabling Citizenship (Amendment) Rules, 2024 were notified in March 2024, operationalising an online application process under Section 6B of the 1955 Act.
UPSC Angle
Master the article-to-subject mapping, the single-citizenship principle (Article 9), and the five statutory modes with their cut-off dates. Distinguish OCI from citizenship, and link CAA 2019 to the constitutional framework rather than treating it in isolation.
