1. There is only one citizenship and one domicile.

2. A citizen by birth only can become the Head of State.

3. A foreigner once granted citizenship cannot be deprived of it under any circumstances.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

a. 1 Only                

b. 2 Only

c. 1 and 3               

d. 2 and 3

Answer- a

Explanation:

In the United States, there is dual citizenship. An American citizen is a citizen of the United States and also of the state in which he/she lives. As a result, each state has the right to grant its citizens or residents a number of rights that may denied to the non-citizens. 

In India, though there is a dual polity but, there is a single citizenship.

Domicile is an important criterion for citizenship of any country. Though the term is not defined in the constitution, domicile ordinarily cannotes a person’s residence where he intends to live permanently.

Article 5 of the Constitution provides that a person becomes entitled to the Citizenship of India if, at the commencement of the Constitution, he has his domicile in the territory of India. Thus, citizenship is denoted by domicile and not vice-versa. The domicile is distinguishable from citizenship in that it is vitally connected with territory and not membership in the community. 

The Constitution of India avoids dual citizenship; there is one citizenship related to the domicile in the territory of the whole of India and not in a part of it. There is no separate state citizenship as in the U.S.A. Thus, it is incorrect to say that a citizen of India is domiciled in one State or another, forming part of the Union of India. He has only one domicile. 

Article 5 of the Constitution is clear and explicit on this point, and it refers only to one domicile, namely, “domicile in the territory of India (Pradeep Jain v. Union of India, 1984). 

Hence, statement 1 is correct.

Article 58: Qualifications for election as President.—(1) No person shall be eligible for election as President unless he— 

(a) is a citizen of India, 

(b) has completed the age of thirty-five years and 

(c) is qualified for election as a member of the House of the People. 

Since the Constitution does not specify the “citizen by birth” clause.

Hence, statement 2 is incorrect.

Article 11: Parliament to regulate the right 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. 

Therefore, parliament has enacted Citizenship Act 1955 specifying provisions to provide for the acquisition, determination and termination of Indian citizenship. 

According to section 10 of the Citizenship Act 1955, the Central Government may, by order, deprive any such citizen (either by birth or by naturalisation i.e. a foreigner) of Indian citizenship if it is satisfied that― 

• (a) the registration or certificate of naturalisation was obtained by means of fraud, false representation or the concealment of any material fact; or 
• (b) that citizen has shown himself by act or speech to be disloyal or disaffected towards the Constitution of India as by law established; or 
• (c) that citizen has, during any war in which India may be engaged, unlawfully traded or communicated with an enemy or been engaged in, or associated with, any business that was to his knowledge carried on in such manner as to assist an enemy in that war; or 
• (d) that citizen has, within five years after registration or naturalisation, been sentenced in any country to imprisonment for a term of not less than two years or 
• (e) that citizen has been ordinarily resident out of India for a continuous period of seven years and, during that period, has neither been at any time a student of any educational institution in a country outside India or in the service of a Government in India or of an international organisation of which India is a member, not registered annually in the prescribed manner at an Indian consulate his intention to retain his citizenship of India. 

Hence, statement 3 is incorrect.

Read: Previous Year UPSC Polity Questions (PYQs) With Explanation 2021