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* Indians resident and born in [[Presidencies and provinces of British India|British India]] came under the direct dominion of and bore allegiance to the British Crown, and held the status of [[British subject]]. From 1 January 1915, the [[British Nationality and Status of Aliens Act 1914]] defined British subjects as those born or naturalised in the British Sovereign's dominions (including British India) along with their spouses and children.<ref>[http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1914/17/pdfs/ukpga_19140017_en.pdf legislation.gov.uk: "British Nationality and Status of Aliens Act 1914"] (original as printed)</ref> | * Indians resident and born in [[Presidencies and provinces of British India|British India]] came under the direct dominion of and bore allegiance to the British Crown, and held the status of [[British subject]]. From 1 January 1915, the [[British Nationality and Status of Aliens Act 1914]] defined British subjects as those born or naturalised in the British Sovereign's dominions (including British India) along with their spouses and children.<ref>[http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1914/17/pdfs/ukpga_19140017_en.pdf legislation.gov.uk: "British Nationality and Status of Aliens Act 1914"] (original as printed)</ref> | ||
* Indians resident and born in a [[princely state]] under the British Raj, or in any other [[British protectorate|protectorate]] under the British government, held the status of [[British protected person]].<ref name="Royal_Commission_Scholarship" group="note">For example, see attached regulations for the [[1851 Research Fellowship]] for Indians, with reference to Indians from princely states as British protected persons ([http://www.currentscience.ac.in/Downloads/article_id_015_02_0059_0060_0.pdf Current Science - Science Notes and News])</ref> British protected persons were considered ''de jure'' foreigners, but could travel on British-issued passports. | * Indians resident and born in a [[princely state]] under the British Raj, or in any other [[British protectorate|protectorate]] under the British government, held the status of [[British protected person]].<ref name="Royal_Commission_Scholarship" group="note">For example, see attached regulations for the [[1851 Research Fellowship]] for Indians, with reference to Indians from princely states as British protected persons ([http://www.currentscience.ac.in/Downloads/article_id_015_02_0059_0060_0.pdf Current Science - Science Notes and News])</ref> British protected persons were considered ''de jure'' foreigners, but could travel on British-issued passports. | ||
Effective from 15 August 1947, India was established as the independent [[Dominion of India]]. All Indians resident, born in or naturalised in the Indian provinces legally remained British subjects by virtue of Section 18(3) of the [[Indian Independence Act 1947]]. Indians residents in the princely states that acceded to India were also regarded as British subjects, while those resident in British protectorates retained the status of British protected persons.<ref name="Gazette_of_India"> | |||
{{cite web |title=The Gazette of India - Extraordinary |website=Press Information Bureau of India - Archive |url=http://pib.nic.in/archive/docs/DVD_28/ACC%20NO%20702-BR/LAW%201949-04-09_242.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170808193914/http://pib.nic.in/archive/docs/DVD_28/ACC%20NO%20702-BR/LAW%201949-04-09_242.pdf |archive-date=8 August 2017}}: "The expression 'British subjects' shall be deemed to include the Ruler and subjects of any of the Acceding States." | |||
</ref><ref name="Indians_Gulf_Residency" group="note"> | |||
Revision as of 21:13, 23 April 2021
| The Citizenship Act, 1955 | |
|---|---|
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| Parliament of India | |
| |
| Citation | Act No 57 of 1955 |
| Enacted by | Parliament of India |
| Assented to | 30 December 1955 |
| Amended by | |
| The Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 1986, The Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 1992, The Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2003, The Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2005, and The Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 | |
| Summary | |
| Along with the Constitution of India, the Citizenship Act, 1955, is the exhaustive law relating to citizenship in India. | |
The conferment of a person as a citizen of India is governed by the Part II of the Constitution of India (Articles 5 to 11). According to Article 5, all the people that were resident in India at the commencement of the Constitution were citizens of India as well as people born in India. The President of India is termed the First Citizen of India.
The Indian legislation related to this matter is The Citizenship Act, 1955, which has been amended by the Citizenship (Amendment) Acts of 1986, 1992, 2003, 2005, 2015 and 2019. The 1986 amendment restricted citizenship by birth to require that at least one parent had to be an Indian citizen. The 2003 amendment further restricted that aspect by requiring that a parent could not be an illegal immigrant. The 2003 amendment also mandated the Government of India to construct a National Register of Citizens. The 2019 amendment provided an easier path to citizenship for minorities persecuted on the basis of religion, i.e Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsi and Christians from the neighbouring Muslim-majority countries of Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Afghanistan who entered India before December 2014. These two measures have given rise to large-scale protests in India in 2019.
Article 9 of Indian Constitution says that a person who voluntarily acquires citizenship of any other country is no longer an Indian citizen. Also, according to The Passports Act, a person has to surrender his/her Indian passport and voter card, and other Indian ID cards must not be used after another country's citizenship is obtained. It is a punishable offence if the person fails to surrender the passport.
The current Indian nationality law largely follows the jus sanguinis (citizenship by descent) as opposed to the jus soli (citizenship by right of birth within the territory).[1]
History
British Raj
The Government of India Act 1858 established the British Raj and formally brought the majority of Indians under British imperial rule. Indians under the British Raj generally fell into two categories:
- Indians resident and born in British India came under the direct dominion of and bore allegiance to the British Crown, and held the status of British subject. From 1 January 1915, the British Nationality and Status of Aliens Act 1914 defined British subjects as those born or naturalised in the British Sovereign's dominions (including British India) along with their spouses and children.[2]
- Indians resident and born in a princely state under the British Raj, or in any other protectorate under the British government, held the status of British protected person.[note 1] British protected persons were considered de jure foreigners, but could travel on British-issued passports.
Effective from 15 August 1947, India was established as the independent Dominion of India. All Indians resident, born in or naturalised in the Indian provinces legally remained British subjects by virtue of Section 18(3) of the Indian Independence Act 1947. Indians residents in the princely states that acceded to India were also regarded as British subjects, while those resident in British protectorates retained the status of British protected persons.[3]<ref name="Indians_Gulf_Residency" group="note">
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- Article 5- Citizenship at the commencement of the constitution.
- Article 6- Rights of citizenship of certain persons who have migrated to India from Pakistan.
- Article 7-Rights of citizenship of certain migrants to Pakistan.
- Article 8- Rights of citizenship of certain persons of Indian origin residing outside India.
- Article 9-Person voluntarily acquiring citizenship of a foreign state not to be citizens.
- Article 10- Continuance of the Rights of citizenship.
- Article 11- Parliament to regulate the right of citizenship by law.
- ↑ "As Trump strikes at birthright citizenship, Americans – and Indians – look up 14th Amendment - Times of India". The Times of India.
- ↑ legislation.gov.uk: "British Nationality and Status of Aliens Act 1914" (original as printed)
- ↑ "The Gazette of India - Extraordinary" (PDF). Press Information Bureau of India - Archive. Archived (PDF) from the original on 8 August 2017.: "The expression 'British subjects' shall be deemed to include the Ruler and subjects of any of the Acceding States."
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