CITIZENSHIP

Citizenship has been defined as full and equal membership of a political community. states provide a collective political identity to their members as well as certain rights. Rights include political rights like the right to vote, civil rights like the freedom of speech or belief, and some socio-economic rights which could include the right to a minimum wage or the right to education.

Why Citizenship is Required

The Constitution confers rights and privileges  on citizens-

1. It provides fundamental rights eg Articles 15, article 16, article 19, article 29 and 30 that is cultural educational rights
2. Right to contest for membership of Parliament and the state legislature
3. Right to vote
4. Eligibility to hold certain public offices eg President of India, Vice President of India, Judges of SC and HC

2. Constitutional Provisions

Article 5-11 under part ii

Article 5-at the time of commencement of the constitution every person who is following shall be considered a citizen of India.

1. Domiciled in the territory of India Domicile=( residence +intention)
2. He is born in India
3. One of the parents born in India
4. Ordinary resident of India not less than five years.

Michael Vs State of Bombay merely residence is not sufficient there must be intention also.

Pradeep Jain Vs Union of India There is single citizenship in India that is a person who resides anywhere in India.

Article 6:  wherever any person has come from Pakistan  to India then he shall be a citizen of India-

1. If his parents or grandparents were born in India
2. If he comes before 19 July 1948
3. If he comes after 19 July 1948 then he has to give an application that he was in India for 6 months.

Article 7: If any Person Migrated to  Pakistan after 1 March 1947 then he is not a citizen of India except on 19 July 1948 he came back to India before 19 July 1948.

Article 8: wherever any person out of India then they can go to the Indian council or Diplomatic Agent and can take citizenship if-

1. They were born in India
2. Their parents or grandparents were born in India

Article 9: wherever any person acquires citizenship of another country then he shall not be considered a citizen of India.

Article 10 -whoever is a citizen of India shall continue to be a citizen except by law of Parliament.

Article 11 Parliament can make law time and again(of acquiring and termination) Citizenship Act 1955.

Indian constitution is federal and envisages dual polity it provides for single citizenship like that of Canada, for citizens to owe allegiance to the union there is no state citizenship like that of the USA

3. How Citizenship Acquired under Citizenship Act 1955

Section 3 By Birth: wherever any person born after 1 July 1987 and before the Citizenship Amendment Act 2003 then he must be born in India and one of his/her parent born in India.

After CAA  child must be born and both the parents must be citizens of India or one of them citizen and the other not an illegal migrant.

Section 4 descent

• A child born outside India between 26.01.1950 and 09.12.1992 shall be a citizen of India by descent if the father of the child was an Indian citizen by birth at the time of the birth of the child. In case the father of the child was an Indian citizen by descent at the time of the birth of the child, the child shall not be a citizen of India by birth, unless the birth of the child is registered with the concerned Indian Mission abroad within one year of the birth. Approval of the Central Government is necessary in all such cases where the request for such registration is made after the expiry of the said period.
• A child born outside India between 10.12.1992 and 02.12.2004 shall be a citizen of India by descent if either of the parents (father or mother) was an Indian citizen by birth at the time of birth of the child. In case either of the parents of the child was an Indian citizen by descent at the time of the birth of the child, the child shall not be a citizen of India by birth unless the birth of the child is registered with the concerned Indian Mission abroad within one year of the birth. Approval of the Central Government is necessary in all such cases where the request for such registration is made after the expiry of the said period.
•  A child born outside India on or after 03.12.2004 shall be a citizen of India by descent if either of the parents (father or mother) is an Indian citizen at the time of birth of the child and the birth of the child has been registered with the concerned Indian Mission abroad within one year of the birth and the parents of the child have to submit a declaration that the child does not hold passport of another country. Approval of the Central Government is necessary in all such cases where the request for such registration is made after the expiry of the said period.

Section 5 Registration: any person who has resided in India for 5 years and full age and capacity and residing in India one year before application.

Section 6 Naturalisation: wherever any person is residing in India and full age and capacity and fulfilling the condition of qualification of Schedule 3 shall be considered a citizen of India.

• Schedule 3
• 12 months before application in India
• Residing in India for 14 years in which the total period is not less than 11 years.
• He is ready to surrender his country citizenship.

Section 7 A:  wherever any person wants to become an overseas citizen then –

• He must be a citizen of another country except Pakistan and Bangladesh or any other country as the central government directs.
• He must have full capacity.

Section 7 B:  There shall be several rights-

• Home loans
• Take property in India
• In a few matters priority (adoption )
• Reservation in educational areas /institution

But few things shall not be

• No right to vote
• He cannot become PRESIDENT, VICE PRESIDENT, JUDGE, MP/MLA
• Cannot be in public employment except with the consent of the Central Government

Section 7 C: any citizen can renounce his citizenship

Section 7 D: India can cancel  citizenship  on the following  grounds-

• Has done fraud or false representation
• Disregard to Constitution of India
• During war, unlawful trade
• Within 5 years of registration, imprisonment for 2 years or more
• Any other reason in the national interest

4. Termination of Citizenship 

Section 8 by Renouncing: wherever any person leaves his citizenship by declaration then it is called Renuciation.

Section 9 Termination: wherever a person acquires citizenship of another country then citizenship of India terminates.

Section 10 Deprivation: applies only on naturalization and registration on the following grounds-

• False representation and by fraud registration or certificate of naturalization was obtained
• Disloyal to the Constitution of India
• Illegal trade during the war
• That citizen within 5 years after registration or naturalization been sentenced in any country to imprisonment for a term not less than two years

That citizen has been ordinarily resident out of India for a continuous period of 7 years and during that period has neither been at any time a student of any educational institution in a country outside India or in any service of the government in India or of an international organization of which India is a member, nor registered annually in the prescribed manner at an Indian consulate his intention to retain his citizenship of India.

5. What do a Person of Indian Origin (PIO)  and Overseas Citizenship of India (OCI) mean?

OCI-Ministry of Home  Affairs  defines OCI as

1. Was a citizen of India on or after 26 Jan 1950 or
2. Was eligible to become a citizen of India on 26 Jan 1950
3. Is a child or grandchild of such a person

According to section 7 A of the OCI card rules, an applicant is not eligible for the OCI card if he, his parents or grandparents have ever been a citizen of Pakistan or Bangladesh.

The category was introduced by the government in 2005. The government of India via the Citizenship Amendment Act, of 2015 merged the person of Indian origin PIO category with the OCI category in 2015.

Benefits to OCI Holders

1. They can enter India multiple times, get a multipurpose lifelong visa to visit India, and are exempt from registering with the Foreigners Regional Registration Office.
2. If an individual is registered as an OCI for 5 years, he /she is eligible to apply for Indian citizenship.
3. At all Indian international airports, OCI cardholders are provided with Special Immigration Counters.
4. OCI cardholders can open special bank accounts in India, buy non-farm property exercise ownership rights and can also apply for a permanent account number.

Limitations: OCI holders do not get voting rights, cannot hold a government job and purchase agricultural or farmland. They cannot travel to restricted areas without government permission.

Person of Indian Origin

• PIO means a foreign citizen except a national of Pakistan, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, China, Iran, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, or Nepal. 
• Who at any time held an Indian passport or
• Who or either of their parents /grandparents/ great grandparents were born and permanently resident in India as defined in I Government of India Act 1935 and other territories that became part of India thereafter or
• Who is a spouse of a citizen of India or a PIO
• The PIO category was merged with the OCI category in 2015

Benefits of PIO Card

• PIO cardholders do not need a visa if they wish to visit India for up to 15 years from the issuance of a PIO Card.
• They can stay for up to 180 days In India without registration to FRRO (Foreigner Regional Registration Office).
• They can study or work for private institutions in India without a special visa
• They have the same financial and economic benefits as NRIs.

6. Citizenship Equality and Rights

• Citizenship is not merely a legal concept. It is also closely related to larger notions of equality and rights.
• H. Marshall (1893-1981). In his book Citizenship and Social Class (1950), Marshall defined citizenship as “a status bestowed on those who are full members of a community. All who possess the status are equal concerning the rights and duties with which the status is endowed.
• The key concept in Marshall’s idea of citizenship is that of ‘equality’. This implies two things: first, the quality of the given rights and duties improves. Second, the quantity of people upon whom they are bestowed grows.
• Marshall sees citizenship as involving three kinds of rights: civil, political and social.
• Civil rights protect the individual’s life, liberty and Property.
• Political rights enable the individual to participate in the process of governance.
• Social rights give the individual access to education and employment. Together they make it possible for the citizen to lead a life of dignity. Marshall saw social class as a ‘system of inequality’.
• Citizenship ensures equality by countering the divisive effects of class hierarchy. It thus facilitates the creation of a better-integrated and harmonious community the issue of whether full and equal membership means that all citizens, rich or poor, should be guaranteed certain basic rights and a minimum standard of living by the state eg slum dwellers. 
• The women’s movement and the lower caste movement in our country. Their purpose is to change public opinion by drawing attention to their needs as well as to influence government policy to ensure their equal rights and opportunities citizenship is more than the relationship between the state and the members.
• Citizenship is also about citizen–citizen relations and also involves certain obligations of citizens towards each other and to the society.
• The Supreme Court gave an important decision regarding the rights of slum-dwellers in Bombay in response to a Public Interest Litigation filed by a social activist, Olga Tellis against Bombay Municipal Corporation in 1985. The petition claimed the right to live on pavements or in slums because there was no alternative accommodation available close to their place of work. If they were forced to move they would lose their livelihood as well. The Supreme Court said, “Article 21 of the Constitution which guaranteed the right to life included the right to livelihood. Therefore if pavement dwellers were to be evicted they should first be provided alternative accommodation under the right to shelter
• The 1950s witnessed the emergence of Civil Rights Movements against inequalities that existed between black and white populations in many of the southern states of the USA. Such inequalities were maintained in these states by a set of laws called Segregation Laws through which black people were denied many civil and political rights. These laws created separate areas for coloured and white people in various civic amenities like railways, buses, theatres, housing, hotels, restaurants, etc Martin Luther King Jr. was a black leader of the movement against these laws. He gave a call for peaceful and non-violent resistance against the segregation laws.

7. Citizen and Nation

• In a state there can be people of different religions, cultures, and languages but nations provide them common political identity shared by all.
• The criteria for granting citizenship to new applicants varies from country to country. In countries such as Israel, or Germany, factors like religion, or ethnic origin may be given priority in granting citizenship
• The Indian Constitution attempted to accommodate a very diverse society. To mention just a few of these diversities, it attempted to provide full and equal citizenship to groups as different as the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, many women who had not previously enjoyed equal rights, some remote communities in the Andaman and Nicobar islands who had had little contact with modern civilization, and many others. ethnic origin may be given priority when granting citizenship.

Global Citizenship

• Global citizenship is the umbrella term for social, political, economic, and environmental actions of globally minded individuals and communities on a worldwide scale. The concept of global citizenship is embedded in the Sustainable Development Goals through SDG 4 ensuring inclusive and quality education for all and promoting lifelong learning which includes global citizenship as one of its targets.
• It might make it easier to deal with problems which extend across national boundaries and which therefore need cooperative action by the people and governments of many states. For instance, it might make it easier to find an acceptable solution to the issue of migrants and stateless peoples, or at least to ensure their basic rights and protection regardless of the country in which they may be living. Citizen Amendment Act ( CAA)  came into force on Dec 12, 2019, as a humanitarian gesture towards non–Muslim refugees compelled to flee from the three neighbouring countries due to religious persecution.
• The act states that any person belonging to the Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi or Christian community from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan, who entered India on or before Deember31,2014 without proper documents(passport, visas) shall not be treated as an illegal migrant and granted citizenship on certain condition and restriction, provided he/she has been in India for not less than five years.
• The act does not immediately grant citizenship to the six religious communities but merely makes them eligible to apply for Indian citizenship  by naturalization, provided they can establish their residency in India for five years instead of the existing eleven years
• The government stated that the amendment to the citizenship act was made because the said minorities were subjected to religious persecution and they had nowhere to go but to enter India illegally.