Article 8 of Constitution of India – Rights of citizenship of certain persons of Indian origin residing outside India
Article 8 of Constitution of India deals with Rights of citizenship of certain persons of Indian origin residing outside India.
Original text of Article 8 of Constitution of India
Notwithstanding anything in article 5, any person who or either of whose parents or any of whose grand-parents was born in India as defined in the Government of India Act, 1935 (as originally enacted), and who is ordinarily residing in any country outside India as so defined shall be deemed to be a citizen of India if he has been registered as a citizen of India by the diplomatic or consular representative of India in the country where he is for the time being residing on an application made by him therefor to such diplomatic or consular representative, whether before or after the commencement of this Constitution, in the form and manner prescribed by the Government of the Dominion of India or the Government of India.
Questions related to Article 8 of Constitution of India
Article 8 provides citizenship rights to people of Indian origin who were living outside India at the time the Constitution of India came into force, as long as they were registered by a diplomatic or consular representative of India.
Anyone who or whose parents or grandparents were born in India (as defined in the Government of India Act, 1935), and who lived in a foreign country but got registered at an Indian consulate, is covered under this article of the Indian Constitution.
Article 8 applied specifically at the commencement of the Constitution. Today, citizenship for overseas Indians is handled under the Citizenship Act, 1955, but Article 8 remains a part of the historical framework of the Articles of Indian Constitution.
On Indian Kanoon, you can find references to Article 8 in cases related to overseas Indians and their eligibility for Indian citizenship. It’s helpful in understanding how courts have interpreted the Constitution of India in such cases.
While Articles 5–7 focus on people living in or migrating to/from India during Partition, Article 8 is unique because it extends the scope of the Indian Constitution to include people of Indian origin living abroad.
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