The Supreme Court on Thursday upheld the constitutional validity of Section 6A of the Citizenship Act, which grants citizenship to immigrants in Assam, by a 4:1 majority. The supreme court delivered judgement with a five-judge bench headed by thirty-fourth chief justice of India DY Chandrachud in favour of the provision. Criminal Appeal no. 167 of 2019 was upheld with CJI S A Bobde, Surya Kant along with MM Sundresh and Manoj Misra agreeing with the conclusion, however, Justice JB Pardiwala dissent with Section 6A unconstitutional.
Section 6A was incorporated into the Citizenship Act as a ‘detached provision’ with immediate effect for the execution of the provisions of the Accord which remains a political understanding to deal with the problem of migration. It gives criteria for awarding citizenship on the basis of the date on which the person migrated to a country. Section 18 permits subject registration to Indians who entered Assam afterilio January 1, 1966 and before March 25, 1971 from specified territories that included what is now Bangladesh and who have been residing in the state.
The court reaffirmed March 25,1971 cut off as the date for grant of Indian citizenship-one of the major recommendations of the Assam Accord. They also noted that existence of any other ethnic groups in Assam does not infract Article 29(1) of the Constitution meant for protection of the interests of the minorities.
The court took its interim orders in the case after hearing cumulative arguments by the Attorney General, Solicitor General, and senior advocates in December 2022. It instructed the Centre to furnish information on the migrants who have received the citizenship under Section 6A(2) of the Act and actions being taken for reckoning the unlawful migration.
The affidavit of the Centre said that 17,861 migrants who walked into Assam between 1966-1971 were given Indian citizenship and 32,381 persons were declared foreigners between 1966-1971.
