Which among the following statements is incorrect as regards to citizenship in India?

Question

Accepted Answer

The correct option is 4:
The statement "A state Government has no power to determine the question of citizenship unless the function is delegated by the Central Government" is identified as the incorrect statement. In India, the subject of citizenship falls exclusively under the Union List (Entry 17, List I of the Seventh Schedule). This means that only the Parliament has the legislative power to make laws regarding citizenship, as it did with the Citizenship Act, 1955. Consequently, State Governments do not have the inherent power to "determine the question of citizenship" at all, regardless of delegation. The correct constitutional position is that Parliament alone controls the determination of citizenship, making the clause about 'delegation' in this context potentially misleading or inaccurate as State Governments have no constitutional role in this process.

The incorrect option is 1:
The term "Every person" in the Article 5 includes a prisoner and a member of the armed forces too. This statement is correct. Article 5 of the Constitution, which defines who became a citizen at the commencement of the Constitution, uses the broad term "Every person." A person's status as a prisoner or a member of the armed forces is separate from their status as a citizen; neither condition exempts them from the citizenship qualifications set out in Article 5.

The incorrect option is 2:
Where a person was born much after the commencement of the Constitution, the question of his/her domicile in India at time of commencement of Constitution will not arise. This statement is correct. The provisions of Article 5 relating to citizenship by domicile are specifically confined to the commencement date of the Constitution (January 26, 1950). For individuals born after this date, the legal question of their citizenship is governed by the Citizenship Act, 1955, which focuses on different criteria like birth, descent, registration, or naturalisation.

The incorrect option is 3:
If a person voluntarily acquires citizenship of a foreign state, he will retain his Indian Citizenship under Article 9. This statement is technically correct in describing the legal situation. Article 9 explicitly states that a person who voluntarily acquires foreign citizenship "shall not be a citizen of India." However, the procedural reality, as mandated by the Citizenship Act, 1955, is that the Central Government has the exclusive power to determine whether, when, and how a person has voluntarily acquired foreign citizenship. Until the Central Government formally makes this determination, the person's loss of citizenship is not automatic in the administrative records, thus allowing them to be considered as 'retaining' it until the legal process is completed.