Enemy alien
Topic: Citizenship: Idea and Indian Law · NCERT: Beyond NCERT
Meaning
An enemy alien is a national of a country that is at war with India. An "alien" simply means a foreigner. Under Article 22(3), enemy aliens do not get the arrest safeguards in Articles 22(1) and 22(2). Those safeguards are the right to be told the grounds of arrest, the right to a lawyer, and the right to be produced before a magistrate within 24 hours. Under the Citizenship Act 1955, children born in India to enemy aliens also do not become citizens by birth.
Example
If India were at war with a country, a national of that country could be arrested in India without these Article 22 safeguards. A friendly alien would keep them.
Don't confuse with
- Friendly alien: a national of a country that is not at war with India. Friendly aliens keep Article 22 protection. They also get Articles 14, 20, 21 and 25, though not citizen-only rights such as Article 19.
Related concepts
- Single citizenship
- Part II of the Constitution
- Citizenship at the commencement of the Constitution
- Rights reserved for citizens