Incorporation of territory (§7 — Goa/Pondicherry/Sikkim)

There is no individual application procedure under section 7. The 'procedure' is the executive act itself: on a territory becoming part of India, the Central Government publishes an order in the Official Gazette specifying the persons who become citizens and the date from which they do so. Citizenship attaches automatically to every person within the specified class as from the specified date — subject only to any opt-out/retention option the order itself provides (Goa: reported one-month opt-out; Pondicherry: reported six-month retention option). Because the cohorts are historically complete, the operative procedural artifacts are the three 1962/1975 orders themselves. The section 7 mechanism remains available for a future incorporation, but confers nothing on any individual absent a Gazette order specifying that individual's class.

Citizenship by incorporation of territory is governed by section 7 of the Citizenship Act 1955, the last of the acquisition provisions grouped under 'ACQUISITION OF CITIZENSHIP' (sections 3-7). Section 7 provides, verbatim: 'If any territory becomes a part of India, the Central Government may, by order notified in the Official Gazette, specify the persons who shall be citizens of India by reason of their connection with that territory; and those persons shall be citizens of India as from the date to be specified in the order.' Section 7 is a purely ENABLING mechanism. It is not self-executing and confers citizenship on no individual by its own force: it is a delegated legislative power exercised by the executive (the Central Government) on the occasion of a territory becoming part of India. The provision has three moving parts. First, a trigger condition — a territory 'becomes a part of India' (by conquest, cession, merger or accession). Second, a delegated act — the Central Government 'may, by order notified in the Official Gazette, specify the persons who shall be citizens of India by reason of their connection with that territory'. Third, a temporal fixing — those persons become citizens 'as from the date to be specified in the order'. The identity of the cohort, the connecting factor (residence, birth, domicile, or nationality in the incorporated territory), any opt-out or retention option, and the effective date are all set by the ORDER, not by section 7 itself. Section 7 has been part of the principal Act since its commencement (30 December 1955) and has been exercised on the three occasions documented below; the mechanism remains available (operative_today) should any future territory be incorporated, though its historical uses are complete.

Central Government (makes the Gazette order specifying the cohort and effective date under section 7). Instruments of exercise: Goa, Daman and Diu (Citizenship) Order 1962; Citizenship (Pondicherry) Order 1962; Sikkim (Citizenship) Order 1975. Companion constitutional instrument: Constitution (Thirty-sixth Amendment) Act 1975 (Sikkim statehood). No court adjudication is required to perfect §7 citizenship; the order operates by its own terms as from the specified date.

§7 + extension footnote 1 (Citizenship Act 1955, decoded consolidated). §7-order corroboration: (§7 mechanism anchor); Goa/Daman&Diu Order 1962; Pondicherry Order 1962; Sikkim Order 1975; Constitution 36th Amendment 1975.