Citizenship under the Indian Constitution: Historical Perspective

Abstract
The provision of citizenship has been made in Part II (Articles 5 to 11) of the Constitution. It
starts with the picture of Gurukul. Articles 5 to 9 were implemented on 26 November 1949. Using
the power of Article 11, Parliament has enacted the Citizenship Act 1955 on citizenship, which is
the subject of Entry 17 of the Union List of the Seventh Schedule of the Constitution. After the
implementation of the Citizenship Act, all disputes related to citizenship will be resolved by the
Citizenship Act 1955, and before it, all disputes will be resolved by the Constitutional provisions.
The Citizenship Act 1955 has been amended in 1986, 1992, 2003, 2005, 2015 and 2019. The
Citizenship Act 1955 was recently amended in 2019, and through this amendment, provision has
been made to grant citizenship to persons of six communities – Hindu, Buddhist, Jain, Sikh, Parsi,
Christian, coming from three countries Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan. There are two
important principles related to citizenship – Jus Soli and Jus Sanguinis. The Constituent Assembly
has accepted the jus soli principle, which means the place of birth.

KEY WORDS: Citizenship, Constitution, Citizenship Act, Article, Amendment, Citizens.