Like any other modern state, India has two kinds of people—citizens and
aliens.
Citizens are full members of the Indian State
and owe allegiance to it. They enjoy all civil and political rights.
Aliens are the citizens of some other state and hence, do not
enjoy all the civil and political rights.
Friendly aliens are the subjects of those countries
that have cordial relations with India.
Enemy aliens are the subjects of that country that
is at war with India.They enjoy lesser rights than the friendly aliens.
The Constitution confers the following rights and privileges
on the citizens of India (and denies the same to aliens):
1. Right against discrimination on grounds of religion,
race, caste, sex or place of birth (Article
15).
2. Right to equality of opportunity in the matter of
public employment (Article 16).
3. Right to freedom of speech and expression, assembly,
association, movement, residence and profession (Article 19).
4. Cultural and educational rights (Articles 29 and 30).
5. Right to vote in elections to the Lok Sabha and
state legislative assembly.
6. Right to contest for the membership of the
Parliament and the state legislature.
7. Eligibility to hold certain public offices, that is,
President of India, Vice-President of India, judges of the Supreme Court and
the high courts, governor of states, attorney general of India and advocate
general of states.
Along
with the above rights, the citizens also owe certain duties towards the Indian
State, as for example, paying taxes, respecting the national flag and
national anthem, etc.
CITIZENSHIP ACT, 1955
The
Citizenship Act (1955) provides for acquisition and loss of citizenship after
the commencement of the Constitution. This Act has been amended so far four
times by the following Acts:
1. The Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 1986.
2. The Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 1992.
3. The Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2003.
4. The Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2005.
Originally,
the Citizenship Act (1955) also provided for the Commonwealth Citizenship. But,
this provision was repealed by the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2003.
Acquisition of Citizenship
The Citizenship Act of 1955 prescribes five ways of
acquiring citizenship, viz, birth, descent, registration, naturalisation and
incorporation of territory:
1. By Birth:
(a) A person born in
India on or after 26th January 1950 but before 1st July 1987 is a
citizen of India by birth irrespective of the nationality of his parents.
(b) A person born in
India on or after 1st July 1987 is considered as a citizen of India only
if either of his parents is a citizen of India at the time of his birth.
(c)
Further,
those born in India on or after 3rd December 2004 are considered
citizens of India only if both of their parents are citizens of India or one of
whose parents is a citizen of India and the other is not an illegal migrant at
the time of their birth.
(d) The children of
foreign diplomats posted in India and enemy aliens cannot acquire Indian
citizenship by birth.
2. By Descent :
(a) A person born
outside India on or after 26th January 1950 but before 10th December
1992 is a citizen of India by descent, if his father was a citizen of India
at the time of his birth.
(b)
A
person born outside India on or after 10th December 1992 is considered
as a citizen of India if either of his parents is a citizen of India at the
time of his birth.
(c) From 3rd December
2004 onwards, a person born outside India shall not be a citizen of India
by descent, unless his birth is registered at an Indian consulate within one
year of the date of birth or with the permission of the Central Government,
after the expiry of the said period. An application, for registration of the
birth of a minor child, to an Indian consulate shall be accompanied by an
undertaking in writing from the parents of such minor child that he or she does
not hold the passport of another country.
3. By Registration :The Central Government may, on an
application, register as a citizen of India any person (not being an illegal
migrant) if he belongs to any of the following categories, namely:-
(a)
Resident in India for seven years before making an
application for registration.
(b) Resident in any
country or place outside undivided India.
(c) Married to a citizen
of India and
resident in India for seven years before making an application for
registration.
(d) Minor children of persons who are citizens of
India;
(e) A person of
full age and capacity whose parents are
registered as citizens of India.
(f) A person of
full age and capacity who, or either of his
parents, was earlier citizen of independent India, and has been residing in
India for one year immediately before making an application for
registration.
(g) a person of full age
and capacity who has been registered as an
overseas citizen of India for five years, and who has been residing in
India for one year before making an application for registration.
An applicant shall be deemed to be ordinarily resident in
India if –
(i) he has resided in
India throughout the period of twelve months immediately before making an
application for registration; and
(ii) he has resided in
India during the eight years immediately preceding the said period of twelve
months for a period of not less than six years.
(iii)
A
person shall be deemed to be of Indian origin if he, or either of his parents,
was born in undivided India or in such other territory which became part
of India after the 15th August, 1947.
4. By Naturalisation: The Central Government may, on an
application, grant a certificate of naturalisation to any person (not
being an illegal migrant) if he possesses the following qualifications:
(a) that he is not a
subject or citizen of any country where citizens of India are prevented from
becoming subjects or citizens of that country by naturalisation;
(b) that, if he is a
citizen of any country, he undertakes to renounce the citizenship of
that country in the event of his application for Indian citizenship being
accepted.
(c) that he has either
resided in India or been in the service of a Government in India or partly the
one and partly the other, throughout the period of twelve months
immediately preceding the date of the application.
(d) that during the
fourteen years immediately preceding the said period of twelve months, he has either resided in India or been in the
service of a Government in India, or partly the one and partly the other, for
periods amounting in the aggregate to not less than eleven years.
(e) that he is of good character.
(f) that he has an
adequate knowledge of a language specified in the Eighth Schedule to the
Constitution.
(g) that in the event of
a certificate of naturalisation being granted to him, he intends to reside in India, or to enter into or continue in,
service under a Government in India or under an international organisation of
which India is a member or under a society, company or body of persons
established in India.
5. By Incorporation of Territory: If any foreign
territory becomes a part of India, the Government of India specifies the
persons who among the people of the territory shall be the citizens of India.
Such persons become the citizens of India from the notified date. For
example, when Pondicherry became apart of
India, the Government of India issued the Citizenship (Pondicherry) Order,
1962, under the Citizenship Act, 1955.
Loss of Citizenship
The
Citizenship Act, 1955, prescribes three ways of losing citizenship whether
acquired under the Act or prior to it under the Constitution, viz,
renunciation, termination and deprivation:
1. By Renunciation : Any citizen of India of full age and
capacity can make a declaration renouncing his Indian citizenship. Upon the
registration of that declaration, that person ceases to be a citizen of India.
However, if such a declaration is made during a war in which India is engaged,
its registration shall be withheld by the Central Government.
Further,
when a person renounces his Indian citizenship, every minor child of that
person also loses Indian citizenship. However, when such a child attains
the age of eighteen, he may resume Indian citizenship.
2. By Termination : When an Indian citizen voluntarily
(consciously, knowingly and without duress, undue influence or compulsion)
acquires the citizenship of another country, his Indian
citizenship automatically terminates. This provision, however, does not
apply during a war in which India is engaged.
3. By Deprivation : It is a compulsory termination of
Indian citizenship by the Central government, if:
(a)
Obtained the citizenship by fraud.
(b)
Shown disloyalty to the Constitution of India.
(c)
Unlawfully traded or communicated with the enemy during a war.
(d)
Five years after registration or naturalisation, been imprisoned in any country
for two years.
(e)
Ordinarily resident out of India for seven years continuously.
SINGLE CITIZENSHIP
Indian
Constitution is federal and envisages a dual polity (Centre and
states), it provides for only a single citizenship, that is, the
Indian citizenship.There is no separate state citizenship. The other
federal states like USA and Switzerland, adopted the system of double
citizenship. This system creates the problem of discrimination, that is, a
state may discriminate in favour of its citizens in matters like right to vote,
right to hold public offices, right to practice professions and so on. This
problem is avoided in the system of single citizenship prevalent in India.In India both, citizen by birth as well as a
naturalised citizen are eligible for the office of President while in USA, only
a citizen by birth and not a naturalised citizen is eligible for the office of
President.
In
India, all citizens irrespective of the state in which they are born or reside
enjoy the same political and civil rights of citizenship all over the
country and no discrimination is made between them.
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