Article 8: Rights of citizenship of certain persons of Indian origin residing outside India 

Notwithstanding anything in article 5, any person who or either of whose parents or any of whose grandparents was born in India as defined in the Government of India Act, 1935 (as originally enacted), and who is ordinarily residing in any country outside India as so defined shall be deemed to be a citizen of India if he has been registered as a citizen of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.

Background

Draft Article 5B (Article 8) was debated on 10th August 1949, 11th August 1949, and 12th August 1949. It was not initially included in the Draft Constitution, 1948. Instead, the Chairman of the Drafting Committee proposed the insertion of the following as Draft Article 5B: 'Notwithstanding anything contained in article 5 and 5-A of this Constitution, any person who or either of whose parents or any of whose grandparents was born in India as defined in the Government of India Act, 1935 (as originally enacted) and who is ordinarily residing in any territory outside India as so defined shall be deemed to be a citizen of India if he has been registered as a citizen of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, prescribed for the purpose by the Government of the Dominion of India or the Government of India.' It regulated citizenship rights of Indian origin persons residing outside India. A member believed that the article provided unfair special treatment to Indians abroad who are seeking Indian citizenship: as it allows for application and registration even after the commencement of the Constitution. However, the previous article, which grants citizenship to persons who have migrated from Pakistan, did not receive a similar prospective application.The Assembly adopted the Article without amendments on 12 August 1949.