Draft Article 6 (Article 11) was debated on 10, 11 and 12 August 1949. It gave Parliament the power to make citizenship related laws.
The Chairman of the Drafting Committee introduced this Draft Article. He stated that the Assembly was not tasked with making a permanent citizenship law, instead it aimed to settle key principles that would govern citizenship at the time of commencement of the Constitution. The future Parliament, he continued, had the prerogative to make a comprehensive citizenship code. He further clarified that the Parliament was not bound by the preceding articles, and could further restrict or regulate citizenship. One member was not convinced. He did not want the Parliament’s power to legislate on citizenship to be unfettered. He proposed to add a qualifier: Parliament should not be allowed to grant equal citizenship rights to nationals of a foreign country which denies equal treatment to Indians.
The Assembly did not accept any amendments and adopted Draft Article 6 as introduced by the Drafting Committee on 12 August 1949.
