Meaning of citizenship– Citizen are the member of the political community to which they belong. They are the people who compose the State.
Constitutional Rights and Privileges of the Citizens of India-
Citizens of India have the following rights under the Constitution: (a) Fundamental Rights mentioned under Article-15,16,19
b) Only citizens are eligible for certain offices such as those of the President, Vice-President, Judge of the Supreme Court, or a High Court, Attorney General, Governor of a State, Advocate General.
(c) The right of suffrage for election to the House of the People and the Legislative Assembly of every State and the right to become a member of Parliament and of the Legislature of a State.
Person who became Citizens on 26th January, 1950:
Under Article 5-8 of the Constitution, the following persons became citizens of India at the commencement of the Constitution –
(1) who was born as well as domiciled in the “territory of India”- irrespective of the nationality of his parents A- 5(a).
(2) who are domiciled in the “territory of India”, either of whose parents was born in the territory of India- irrespective of the nationality of his parents or the place of birth of such person A- 5(b).
(3) who or whose father/mother was not born in India, but-
(a) had his domicile, in the territory of India
(b) had been ordinarily residing within the territory of India not less than 5 years soon after preceding the commencement of the Constitution.
(4) A person who had migrated from Pakistan, provided-
(a) He or either of his parents/grandparents was born in India as defined in the Government of India Act, 1935
(b) (i) if he migrated before 19 July, 1948
(ii) if he had migrated on or after 19th 1948, he further had made an application before the commencement of this Constitution for registering himself as a citizen of India by an officer appointed by the Government of India.
(5) Person who had migrated from India to Pakistan after 1 March 1947, but had subsequently returned to India under a permit issued under the authority of the Government of India.
(6) A person who, or any of whose parents/grandparents were born in India as defined in the Government of India Act, 1935 but who is ordin
Acquisition of Citizenship after 26th January 1950
The various modes of acquisition of Citizenship prescribed by the Citizenship Act, 1955 are as follows-
(a) Citizenship by birth
(b) Citizenship by descent
(c) Citizenship by registration
(d) Citizenship by naturalization
(e) Citizenship by incorporation of territory
(f) In 1985 a special provision was also added as to citizenship of persons of Indian origin covered by the Assam Accord. Under section 6A (2) two conditions are required to be satisfied –
(1) persons who are of Indian Origin came before 1 January 1966 to Assam from the specified territory
(2) have been ‘ordinarily resident ‘ in Assam as it existed in 1985 since the date of entry in Assam.
Citizenship Amendment Act, 2019- The migrants of Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi, or Christian communities from Afghanistan, Pakistan, or Bangladesh who had entered India without valid travel documents or if the validity of their documents have been expired were regarded as illegal migrants and were ineligible to apply for Indian citizenship under section 5 and 6 of the Citizenship Act, 1955.
