Article 11 is a foundational provision within the Constitution of India, 1950, and is the final article in Part II, which deals with Citizenship. Titled "Parliament to regulate the right of citizenship by law," it grants the Union Parliament the exclusive and comprehensive power to legislate on all matters concerning Indian nationality.
The provision originated from the debates on Draft Article 6, which took place on August 10, 11, and 12, 1949. The Constituent Assembly’s goal was to settle only the principles governing citizenship at the Constitution's commencement, not to draft a permanent, exhaustive code. Article 11 was created to solve this problem by ensuring that the future Parliament would have the prerogative to establish a dynamic, comprehensive citizenship framework.
The mechanism is laid out in its text: "Nothing in the foregoing provisions of this Part shall derogate from the power of Parliament to make any provision with respect to the acquisition and termination of citizenship and all other matters relating to citizenship". This means that Parliament's power to make laws on citizenship is not limited by the initial provisions of Articles 5 to 10, which defined who was a citizen at the time the Constitution came into force.
This constitutional provision connects directly to the Citizenship Act, 1955, which was enacted by Parliament using the power granted by Article 11. The Act has been amended multiple times, most recently by the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 (CAA). While the subsequent legislation has changed, the constitutional source of power, Article 11, has remained the same, enshrining the principle of Parliamentary Sovereignty over citizenship matters.