The Supreme Court on Thursday upheld the constitutional validity of Section 6A of Citizenship Act, which grants citizenship to immigrants in Assam. The five-judge bench led by CJI DY Chandrachud upheld the constitutional validity of the section by a majority of 4:1.
CJI Chandrachud, Justices Surya Kant, MM Sundresh and Manoj Misra concurred on validity of Section 6A of Citizenship Act. The bench was hearing 17 petitions questioning the constitutional validity of Section 6A inserted into the Citizenship Act.
The bench said that the Assam Accord was a political solution to the problem of illegal migration. The Assam Accord provides framework to recognise migrants in Assam as Indian citizens or to expel them basis the date of their migration.
The top court also held that the cut-off date of March 25, 1971 for entry into Assam and granting citizenship is correct.
"Mere presence of different ethnic groups in a state does not mean infringement of Article 29(1)," the CJI-led bench noted. However, Justice JB Pardiwala dissented to the verdict in minority, holding Section 6A as unconstitutional, news agency PTI reported.
Section 6A was inserted into the Citizenship Act, 1955 as a special provision to deal with the citizenship of people covered under the Assam Accord.
As per the section, those who came to Assam on or after January 1, 1966, but before March 25, 1971, from specified territories, including Bangladesh, in accordance with the Citizenship Act amended in 1985, and since then are residents of the northeastern state, must register themselves under Section 18 for acquiring Indian citizenship.
As per this provision, March 25, 1971 is the cut-off date to grant citizenship to migrants, especially those from Bangladesh, living in Assam.
The top court in December last year reserved its order after hearing submissions of Attorney General R Venkataramani, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, senior advocates Shyam Divan, Kapil Sibal and others for four days.
Following this, the apex court directed the Centre to show data on the migrants who were conferred Indian citizenship through Section 6A(2) of the Citizenship Act, 1955 and the steps taken to curb illegal migration into the Indian territory.
The Centre told the apex court in an affidavit that it wouldn't be able to provide accurate data on the extent of illegal migration of foreigners into India as such migration happened in a secretive manner.
A total of 14,346 foreign nationals were deported from the country between 2017-22, and 17,861 migrants who entered Assam between January 1966 and March 1971 were given Indian citizenship under Section 6A, Centre mentioned in its affidavit.
It also mentioned that a total of 32,381 people were declared foreigners by orders of Foreigners Tribunals between 1966-71.