Article 11 — Parliament to Regulate Rights of Citizenship by Law

Nothing in the foregoing provisions of this Part shall derogate from the power of Parliament to make any provision with respect to the acquisition and termination of citizenship and all other matters relating to citizenship.

Source: Constitution of India, as published by the Ministry of Law and Justice.

The Constituent Assembly deliberately chose not to freeze citizenship rules in the Constitution itself. The framers anticipated that India, dealing with the ongoing consequences of Partition, continuing refugee flows, and questions about the diaspora, would need the flexibility to adapt citizenship law as circumstances changed. Articles 5 to 10 established the initial rules at commencement, but Article 11 made clear that Parliament retained plenary (complete and unlimited) power to change those rules going forward. This pragmatic approach meant that the Citizenship Act 1955 could be passed to create a permanent legislative framework, and that Parliament could subsequently amend it to deal with new situations, including statelessness, overseas Indian communities, and migration from neighbouring countries.

• Article 5
• Article 19

Last reviewed: 3 July 2026