Rights reserved for citizens

Topic: Citizenship: Idea and Indian Law · NCERT: Beyond NCERT

Meaning

Rights reserved for citizens are the Fundamental Rights, political rights and public offices that the Constitution gives only to Indian citizens, not to foreigners (aliens). The Fundamental Rights in this group are Articles 15, 16, 19, 29 and 30. The political rights are the vote in Lok Sabha and state assembly elections (Art. 326) and the right to hold high offices such as President, judge or Governor.

They matter because they mark the line between being a member of the Indian political community and simply living in India. Some protections cover every person. But choosing the government and running it is kept for citizens, which protects India's sovereignty.

Explanation

1. Fundamental Rights only for citizens

• Five Fundamental Rights in Part III are written for "citizens" only:

Article	Right
15	No discrimination on grounds of religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth
16	Equal chance in public employment (government jobs)
19	Six freedoms: speech, assembly, association, movement, residence, profession
29	Any group of citizens can protect its own language, script or culture
30	Minorities can set up and run their own educational institutions

• Why these five?
• They deal with membership of the nation: jobs in the state, moving and settling anywhere, and protecting group identity.
• A foreigner is not seen as part of the political community, so the state does not owe them these rights.

2. Political rights only for citizens

• Adult suffrage (every adult citizen can vote) in elections to the Lok Sabha and state legislative assemblies comes from Art. 326.

• The right to vote is a constitutional and legal right. It is not a Fundamental Right.

• The right to be elected: only a citizen can become a Member of Parliament (Art. 84) or a member of a state legislature, MLA or MLC (Art. 173).

3. Offices only for citizens

• Only a citizen can hold these offices:

Office	Article
President	58
Vice-President	66
Attorney General	76
Member of Parliament	84
Supreme Court judge	124
Governor	157
Advocate General	165
Member of a state legislature (MLA/MLC)	173
High Court judge	217

• The logic: these posts carry the power of the state. They make laws, carry out laws, interpret them or give the state legal advice. So they are kept for people who owe full loyalty to India.

4. Duties and limits

• Duties go with the rights. The Fundamental Duties (Art. 51A) apply to citizens.
• Single citizenship (one Indian citizenship and no separate state citizenship, an idea borrowed from Britain) means these rights are the same in every state.
• Exceptions where residence can still matter:
• Art. 16(3): only Parliament (not a state legislature) may make residence in a state or UT a condition for some public jobs there.
• Art. 371D: local cadres (posts kept for local people) in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.
• Former Art. 35A: let Jammu and Kashmir give its "permanent residents" special rights in jobs, land and scholarships. It ended in 2019.

In the Constitution and practice

• Where it sits:
• Part III (Fundamental Rights): Arts. 15, 16, 19, 29, 30.
• Art. 326: adult suffrage.
• The Articles on qualifications for each office, such as Art. 58 for the President, Art. 124 for Supreme Court judges and Art. 217 for High Court judges.

• Art. 51A: Fundamental Duties.

• Who counts as a citizen decides who gets these rights:

• Part II (Arts. 5-11) decided who was a citizen on 26 January 1950.
• Arts. 5-9 came into force early, on 26 November 1949 (Art. 394).

• Art. 11 gives Parliament full power over citizenship [1]. List I, entry 17 makes citizenship a Union subject (only Parliament can make laws on it).

• The Citizenship Act, 1955 sets out how citizenship is gained (birth, descent, registration, naturalisation, inclusion of territory) and lost (renunciation, termination, deprivation) [2].

• Getting or losing citizenship therefore also means getting or losing these reserved rights.

• Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019: some migrants from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan who entered on or before 31 December 2014 can now apply for citizenship [3].

• Once they become citizens, they get the reserved rights, including the vote.

• Under the Citizenship (Amendment) Rules, 2024, an Empowered Committee headed by the Director of Census Operations grants citizenship [4].

• OCI cardholders: an Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) is a registered status, not citizenship. So OCI cardholders do not get the citizen-only rights. The government can cancel an OCI registration if the cardholder breaks a law notified by the central government, after giving them a chance to be heard [3].

Don't confuse with

• Rights available to all persons: Arts. 14, 20, 21 and 25 protect foreigners too. These cover equality before the law, protection in respect of conviction for offences, life and personal liberty, and freedom of religion. Arts. 15, 16, 19, 29 and 30 protect citizens only.
• Enemy alien vs friendly alien: a friendly alien (a national of a country at peace with India) gets the "all persons" rights. An enemy alien (a national of a country at war with India) also loses the arrest safeguards of Art. 22(1)-(2) under Art. 22(3).
• Dual citizenship (US model): in the USA, a person is a citizen of the country and also of their state. India has single citizenship, so a citizen's reserved rights do not change from state to state.
• Right to vote vs Fundamental Right: voting under Art. 326 is reserved for citizens, but it is not in Part III. Do not list it with Arts. 15, 16, 19, 29 and 30.

Prelims Hooks

• Fundamental Rights only for citizens: Arts. 15, 16, 19, 29, 30. Arts. 14, 20, 21, 25 are available to foreigners too.
• Office–Article pairs: President 58, Vice-President 66, Attorney General 76, MP 84, SC judge 124, Governor 157, Advocate General 165, MLA/MLC 173, HC judge 217.
• Adult suffrage for Lok Sabha and assembly elections: Art. 326. It is not a Fundamental Right.
• Trap: Art. 16(3) lets only Parliament, not a state legislature, make residence a condition for public jobs.
• Art. 22(3) takes away the arrest safeguards of Art. 22(1)-(2) from enemy aliens.
• Fundamental Duties (Art. 51A) apply to citizens. Single citizenship came from Britain.

Mains Points

• Human rights for all, political power for citizens:
• Arts. 14, 20, 21 and 25 protect everyone in India, which reflects basic human rights.
• Votes, seats in the legislature and high offices stay with citizens, which protects sovereignty.

• Art. 22(3) shows how security concerns can cut down liberty for enemy aliens.

• Single citizenship and equal rights across India:

• Art. 19 (freedom of movement and residence) and Art. 16 (public jobs) bind a diverse federation together.

• Art. 16(3), Art. 371D and the former Art. 35A show that the Constitution also adjusts for regional needs. Art. 35A was removed in 2019 in favour of uniform rights.

• Who gets the rights is decided by ordinary law:

• Art. 11 lets Parliament change the rules on citizenship without a constitutional amendment. That decides who gets the reserved rights.
• The CAA 2019 debate: it is defended as help for persecuted minorities from three neighbouring countries. Critics say making religion a basis for classification raises questions under Art. 14. They also object to the wider executive power over OCI cards [3]. Both sides are tested against NCERT's "democratic and inclusive" idea of citizenship.

Related concepts

• Single citizenship
• Part II of the Constitution
• Citizenship at the commencement of the Constitution
• Enemy alien

Read more

• Citizenship in the Constitution: Part II, single citizenship and citizens' rights