Article 7 of Constitution of India – Rights of citizenship of certain migrants to Pakistan.
Article 7 of Constitution of India deals with Rights of citizenship of certain migrants to Pakistan.
Original text of Article 7 of Constitution of India
Notwithstanding anything in articles 5 and 6, a person who has after the first day of March, 1947, migrated from the territory of India to the territory now included in Pakistan shall not be deemed to be a citizen of India:
Provided that nothing in this article shall apply to a person who, after having so migrated to the territory now included in Pakistan, has returned to the territory of India under a permit for resettlement or permanent return issued by or under the authority of any law and every such person shall for the purposes of clause (b) of article 6 be deemed to have migrated to the territory of India after the nineteenth day of July, 1948.
Questions related to Article 7 of Constitution of India
Article 7 deals with people who migrated from India to Pakistan during Partition. It says that such persons would not be considered Indian citizens if they migrated after March 1, 1947, unless they returned to India under a special permit.
After the traumatic Partition, citizenship was a complex issue. Article 7 aimed to clearly define who remained an Indian citizen and who didn’t, especially for those who chose to migrate to Pakistan during that period.
Yes — but only if they returned to India with a valid permit for resettlement, as defined by the government. The Articles of Indian Constitution allowed this with strict checks to avoid misuse.
On Indian Kanoon, you’ll find various legal cases discussing the interpretation of Article 7, especially in relation to dual migration, permit verification, and whether individuals were rightly denied citizenship under the Constitution of India.
Article 5 covers general citizenship at the start of the Constitution. Article 6 focuses on people migrating from Pakistan to India, while Article 7 applies to those who went from India to Pakistan. Together, these Articles of Indian Constitution define early citizenship in post-Partition India.
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