New Delhi : Today, the Supreme Court, in a majority verdict, upheld the constitutional validity of Section 6A of the Citizenship Act, which grants Indian citizenship to migrants who came to Assam between January 1, 1966, and March 25, 1971. In this way, today the court has considered Section 6A of the Indian Citizenship Act as valid.
In this regard, CJI D.Y. A five-judge Constitution bench led by Chandrachud said the Assam Accord is a political solution to the problem of illegal migration. Section 6A was added to the Citizenship Act as a special provision to deal with citizenship matters of people covered under the Assam Accord.
Supreme Court’s five-judge Constitution bench upholds the constitutional validity of Section 6A of the Citizenship Act inserted by way of an amendment in 1985 in furtherance of the Assam Accord. pic.twitter.com/I2waFAKhbl
— ANI (@ANI) October 17, 2024
On this, the CJI, while writing his decision today, upheld the validity of Section 6A and said that in view of the small size of Assam's land and the long process of identifying foreigners, the rate of arrival of migrants in this state is higher than other states. Is. Justice Surya Kant, writing the judgment on his own behalf and Justice MM Sundaresh and Justice Manoj Mishra, agreed with the Chief Justice and said that Parliament has the legislative capacity to implement this provision.
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Today, the Supreme Court's majority decision said that March 25, 1971, is the correct time limit for entry into Assam and granting of citizenship. Regarding Section 6A of the Citizenship Act, the Court said that the presence of different ethnic groups in a state does not mean violation of Article 29(1).
However, Justice Pardiwala disagreed on this and declared Section 6A unconstitutional. The bench rejected the petitions questioning the constitutional validity of Section 6A.
Please note that Section 6A of the Citizenship Act has a provision to provide Indian citizenship to those illegal immigrants who came to Assam between January 1, 1966 and March 25, 1971. Most of these illegal immigrants have come from Bangladesh. This provision was included in 1985 after the signing of the Assam Accord between the central government led by then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and the 'All Assam Students Union'.
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This section states that as per the Citizenship Act amended in 1985, persons from specified areas including Bangladesh who came to Assam on or after January 1, 1966, but before March 25, 1971 and have since then been residents of the North-Eastern State, They will have to register themselves under Section 18 to obtain Indian citizenship. As a result, March 25, 1971 has been set as the last date for granting citizenship under this provision to migrants living in Assam, especially those from Bangladesh. (with agency input)
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