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Indian Polity / Citizenship

Termination of Citizenship in India


The Indian Constitution does not provide the detailed provisions regarding termination of Citizenship in India. The Indian Constitution let the Parliament for making rules and regulations to terminate the citizenship. Accordingly, in the Indian Citizenship Act, 1955, we can find the manner in which the citizenship of India may be lost.



Methods of Losing Citizenship in India

  • Renunciation - It is a voluntary act by which an individual holding the citizenship of India as well as citizenship of another country may renounce any one of them.

  • Termination - It shall happen by operation of law as soon as an Indian citizen acquires voluntarily the citizenship of another country.

  • Deprivation - It is a mandatory termination of the Indian citizenship, by an order of the Indian Government, if it is satisfied as to the happening of certain eventualities.

    For example, citizenship will be deprived, if the person has shown himself to be disloyal towards the Indian Constitution or if a person has acquired Indian Citizenship by fraud or if a person has unlawful contact with enemy during war or if a person stays continuously for seven years outside India or if a person gets imprisonment of two years in any other country within five years after naturalization or registration.