A brief overview of the Citizenship Act, 1955

This Article is written by Ananya Gulkhandia & this article delivers A brief overview of the Citizenship Act, 1955.

Introduction

The question of the status of citizenship has gained paramount importance in the 21st Century, the same becomes even more important for any government which has been established by law based on democratic principles to address, considering that the basis of its legitimacy lies within the consent of the collective citizenry which elects the head of the government, thus every modern democracy in the current modern era must determine the clear criterion for determining whether a person qualifies as a citizen or not.

The conditions present at the time of the establishment of the Indian Democracy which had continued well into its infancy, such as the unorderly partition of the undivided India as established by the government of India Act 1935, at the hands of the British government under Sir Cyrill Radcliffe had led to one of the largest mass exodus ever experienced by the world which led to the displacement of around 15 million people and the death of more than a million people (new yorker). The government of India very much still in its infancy was experiencing this mass displacement where millions of Muslims within the territory of modern India trekked to the territory of West and East Pakistan, now Bangladesh, while at the same time, millions of Hindus and Sikhs migrated into India in a completely disorganised manner while at the same time, religious tensions were at an all-time high with communal violence being a common occurrence. In all the partition of 1947 had played a major part in the psyche of the fathers of the Indian constitution, who dedicated the entirety of part two of the constitution to determining citizenship at the time of the Independence of India and in furtherance of which the Indian Parliament had passed the Citizenship Act 1955, and its respective amendments which were for determining not only citizenship but also delineate on the process of acquisition and termination of Indian Citizenship.

The Citizenship Act 1955

Unlike Part Two of the Indian Constitution, which dealt with determining the individuals who would go on to compose the Indian Citizenry at the time of the Independence of India the Citizenship Act of 1955 primarily dealt with the various processes of the Acquisition and dispossession of Indian citizenship after the establishment of Indian Citizenship, this duty has been assigned by the framers of the Indian Constitution to the Indian Parliament under article 11 of the constitution, who went on to frame this act and its amendments.

It is to be understood that The Citizenship Act 1955 has divided all the people in India into two categories that is that a person can either be:

• A Citizen;
• or an Alien.

In relation to which a citizen can be defined as those people who are full members of the Republic of India in relation to which they own mutual allegiance and duties to each other, as the state has certain duties toward its citizens as to the protection and enforcement of both their legal and fundamental rights which it has guaranteed to provide them under the part 3 of the Indian Constitution and in return these citizens own certain fundamental duties towards the state which includes but are not limited to the protection of the nation when called upon by the state to protect the nation’s sovereignty and Integrity.

The term Alien which consists of all the people of this world excluding Indian Citizens has been further distinguished by the act into an

• Legal Alien;
• and an Illegal Alien.

A legal alien is any person who is not an Indian citizen who is within the territory of India with valid legal documents residing within India during the permitted period of time as prescribed by Indian law dealing with the same, while the same person becomes an illegal citizen if he does not possess the proper legal documents or if he does possess such documents he has remained within India beyond the permitted period of time as prescribed by law. In relation to the same, these legal documents include a valid passport and other legal documents such as a visa for citizens of countries such as the People’s Republic of China as determined by the Ministry of External Affairs.

It is to be remembered that the Citizen Ship Amendment Act 2019, has provided for an exemption for any person who either belongs to the various Hindu, Jain, Sikh, Buddhist, Christian or Parsi minority communities of the countries of Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan who have entered India before the year 2015.

Acquisition of Indian Citizenship

Under this act citizenship can be acquired in the following ways:

Citizenship by Birth:

Every person who was born in the territory of India on or after the constitution of India came into force that is on the 26th of January 1950 but before the 1st of July 1987. Thus during this duration of 37 years, India followed the principle of jus Soli, which means the right to soil, under which citizenship is determined on the basis of the place of birth of a person after which this principle switched with its contemporary rule, that being the rule of jus sanguine that is citizenship by blood. Thus after the year of 1987, a person was legally considered to be an Indian citizen if either of their parent was also an Indian citizen at the time of their birth. The basis of determining citizenship by birth was further amended in 2004 by the Citizenship Amendment Act 2003, which added the condition that no person should be an Indian Citizen if either of his parents is an illegal Migrant at the time of his birth.

Citizenship by Descent:

A person born outside the territory of India will be considered an Indian Citizen through the virtue of the fact that their father was an Indian citizen at the time of their birth which is after the 26th of January 1950 but before the 10th of December 1992 or if any of their parents is an Indian citizen after the same, provide with the condition that such birth has been registered by their parent at an Indian Consultant with a year of the Birth or the commencement of the act whichever maybe later. However, it is to be noted that such a period of one year can be extended at the discretion of the central government. Anyone born outside of India to an Indian citizen who is in service under the government of India will automatically be considered an Indian citizen.

Citizenship by registration:

Any person who is not an illegal migrant can become an Indian Citizen on the basis of certain conditions and restrictions which the central government has prescribed if he falls into and fulfils any of the following categories and given conditions:

1. If such a person is of Indian origin or a person who has been married to an Indian Citizen who has been an ordinary resident of the country for a period of 7 years. An ordinary resident for the purposes of this bill can be described as a continuous habitation within India for a period of 12 months before such procedure for registration, in addition to a continuous residence within India for a total period of 6 years within a time period of 8 years before the period of 12 months
2. A minor child whose parents are Indian Citizens
3. A person of full age and capacity either of whose parents were earlier citizens of India and has been an ordinary resident for a period of 12 months
4. A person of full age and capacity who has been an overseas citizen of India cardholder for a period of five years and has been an ordinary resident of India for a period of 12 months

Citizenship by Naturalisation:

A person who is of full age and capacity and is not an illegal immigrant can become a citizen of India upon an application made to the central government, which is subject to conditions specified under the provisions of the third schedule of the Citizenship Act of 1955, though it is to be considered that these conditions can be waived upon the discretion of central government if the person making the application in question has rendered distinguished service in the various fields of arts and science.

Citizenship by incorporation of territory:

Any person who has been a citizen and resident of such territories which have been incorporated into the territory of India by the official order of the central government in the official gazette, will automatically become a citizen of India upon its incorporation into India.

Termination of Indian CitizenShip

Renunciation of Indian Citizenship:

It is to be considered that the declaration of the renunciation of Indian citizenship can only be made by a person of full age and capacity as per the proper procedure established by the central government, which is to be registered by the prescribed authority, after which the person ceases to be an Indian citizen, including every minor child of the same, though such declaration is not to be considered and is to be withheld if the same is made during the duration of any war of which India is a part off.

Termination of citizenship:

Any such Indian Citizen who by way of naturalization or registration, acquires the citizenship of another country automatically ceases to be an Indian citizen upon such acquisition, though such termination can be withheld by the central government upon its discretion for the duration of any such war of which India is a part off.

Deprivation of Citizenship:

It is to be considered that no person who is a citizen of India by virtue of his Birth can be deprived of his citizenship upon the discretion of the central government, whose power to deprive Indian Citizenship of persons who have acquired the same by the means of registration or naturalisation on the basis of the fact that such document of naturalisation and registration was obtained through the means of fraud, false representation or concealment of any material fact, or that the same has shown disloyalty or disaffection towards the constitution of India through any action, statement or gesture or has been sentenced to an imprisonment of more than two years within five years of his registration or naturalisation or has engaged with unlawful trade or connection with a nation at which India is against at war with.

REFERENCES

• Jain, M.P., Chelameswar, J. and Naidu, D.S. (2019) Indian constitutional law. Gurgaon, Haryana, India: LexisNexis.
• Mehta, S.M. (1990) Indian constitutional law. New Delhi: Deep & Deep Publications.