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THE CONSTITUTION OF INDIA
395 Articles, organised into 25 Parts and 12 Schedules, make up the Constitution of India

PARTS
Each Part collates Articles on specific themes. E.g. Fundamental Rights in Part III.

SCHEDULES
Each Schedule contains provisions necessary to apply related Articles.

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HISTORICAL CONSTITUTIONS
The Constitution of India 1950 was preceded by British authored framework legislation to govern India, and proto-constitutional drafts by several Indian individuals and groups. These Historical Constitutions are archived here.

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The Constitution of India 1950 was drafted by a Constituent Assembly. 167 days of plenary assembly debates from 9 December 1946 to 24 January 1950 are archived here.

Browse digitised, edited and paragraph-numbered versions of critical primary materials related to the Indian Constitution and its origins.

COMMITTEE REPORTS
Documents prepared by smaller groups of Constituent Assembly members which conducted preliminary research and advanced recommendations on specific constitutional topics.
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Learn about the members of the Constituent Assembly, the role they played in India’s freedom movement and their contributions to constitution-making.

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A stage-by-stage overview of the drafting of the Constitution of India 1950. Begin with our popular video on the making of the Indian Constitution.
INSTITUTIONS
The Constitution of India 1950 was drafted by the collective work of the following institutions:

CONSTITUENT ASSEMBLY
A 389-member body responsible for drafting India’s Constitution.

COMMITTEES
Committees were created by the Constituent Assembly comprising smaller groups of members delegated with various responsibilities.

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An unofficial forum consisting of Assembly members belonging to the Indian National Congress that met on the side-lines of the Assembly.
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Part II

Article 9

Persons voluntarily acquiring citizenship of a foreign State not to be citizens

No person shall be a citizen of India by virtue of article 5, or be deemed to be a citizen of India by virtue of article 6 or article 8, if he has voluntarily acquired the citizenship of any foreign State.

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Article 9, Constitution of India 1950

No person shall be a citizen of India by virtue of article 5, or be deemed to be a citizen of India by virtue of article 6 or article 8, if he has voluntarily acquired the citizenship of any foreign State.

Summary

Article 9 was debated on 10, 11 and 12 August 1949. This Article barred dual citizenship.

It was not initially a separate Article, and instead was debated as a proviso to Draft Article 5 (Article 5) of the Constitution. During the revision stages, the Drafting Committee decided that that bar on dual citizenship must be a general principle and not be restricted to conditions under Article 5.

During the Constituent Assembly debates, one member argued in favour of dual citizenship. He noted that it should be limited to countries which extend the same to Indians. However, the Assembly voted against this proposal without debate, and the Article was adopted as it was.