Article 5

Article 5 was drafted against the backdrop of Partition in 1947, which had displaced millions of people across the new India-Pakistan border. The Constituent Assembly needed a clear, one-time rule to determine, at the moment the Constitution took effect, who counted as an Indian citizen — separate from the more complicated and politically charged rules for migrants (covered in Articles 6 and 7). Article 5 gave a straightforward baseline test using domicile, birth, parentage, or residence, so that ordinary settled populations would not be left in doubt about their citizenship status.

Courts have generally read Article 5 as a self-executing, one-time provision that operated automatically on 26 January 1950 and does not continue to confer citizenship afterward — subsequent citizenship is governed by the Citizenship Act, 1955. Judicial decisions have also clarified 'domicile' here in the traditional legal sense (intention to permanently reside), distinct from mere residence, and have treated Articles 5, 6, and 7 as a connected scheme, with Articles 6 and 7 acting as special exceptions for migrants to and from Pakistan around Partition.

• Myth: Article 5 still decides who is an Indian citizen today.
  Fact: Article 5 only applied at the single moment the Constitution commenced (26 January 1950). Citizenship after that is governed mainly by the Citizenship Act, 1955, as courts have noted.
• Myth: Being born in India automatically made someone a citizen under Article 5, regardless of anything else.
  Fact: Birth in India was one qualifying condition, but Article 5 also required that the person have their domicile (permanent home) in India at the commencement of the Constitution.
• Myth: Article 5 covered everyone, including people who migrated during Partition.
  Fact: Migrants to and from Pakistan around Partition were specifically addressed by Articles 6 and 7, which operate alongside and sometimes override the general rule in Article 5.