Part III Constituting Democracy, Ch.10 Citizenship

This chapter examines the question of citizenship in the Indian Constitution. It first considers the debate in the Indian Constituent Assembly over jus soli vs jus sanguinis citizenship, along with the constitutional settlement of citizenship and the key issues that are most contested—and remain central to—citizenship jurisprudence. It then turns to a discussion of four terms whose interpretation has been central to the case law on citizenship: domicile, intention, migrant, and passport. It also analyses the main provisions of the Citizenship Act 1955 and the amendments to this piece of legislation from the mid-1980s to the present. The rest of the chapter explores the gradual shift from a jus soli conception of citizenship to one based on the principle of jus sanguinis, as well as the patterns of change and continuity in the constitutional and post-constitutional law of citizenship in India.