Citizenship at the commencement of the Constitution
included in editionWhat does this mean?
This identifies who was an Indian citizen when the Constitution began, using domicile and specified birth or residence connections. It is a starting-point rule for 1950, not the complete law of citizenship today.
The citizenship settlement when the Constitution began, alongside Parliament's power to make later citizenship law.
Why is this provision here?
A new constitutional order needed a starting rule identifying its citizens on commencement.
This Article number belongs to the original constitutional framework, but its present wording may include later amendments or substitutions. A provision-specific original Assembly debate has not been verified here. The explanation of function above is editorial inference from the text, not an attributed single motive of the framers. The original draft-making archive is a research resource, not proof of a particular historical reason.
The explanation of purpose is an editorial reading of the provision. A drafting motive is attributed only where a linked historical source supports it.
Limits, exceptions & reading carefully
Educational summary of the linked source text. Exceptions, provisos, implementing laws and applicable judgments must be read before applying it to a real case.
Read the official constitutional text
Extracted from the Legislative Department’s May 2026 edition. Page footnotes may refer to neighbouring provisions; check their markers in the PDF. Inclusion in this edition does not by itself establish commencement or judicial effect.