On Thursday, the Supreme Court upheld the constitutional validity of Section 6A of the Citizenship Act, 1955, amidst a series of petitions questioning its legality.
The ruling came from a Constitution Bench led by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, addressing legal challenges tied to the provision originally established to implement the Assam Accord and underpin the National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Assam in 2019.
Key Takeaways
The five-judge bench, which also included Justices Surya Kant, MM Sundresh, JB Pardiwala, and Manoj Misra, reserved its judgment last December following extensive oral arguments from both petitioners and the government.
The majority of the justices upheld the validity of Section 6A, while Justice Pardiwala dissented and called for striking down the provision with prospective effect.
During the proceedings, the Supreme Court sought clarity from the Union government regarding measures taken to curb illegal immigration, particularly in northeastern states like Assam.
The bench requested both the Union and Assam governments to provide a comprehensive affidavit detailing the number of Bangladeshi immigrants granted citizenship in Assam from 1 January 1966 to 25 March 1971 under the contested section.
In his submission, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta highlighted the difficulties in obtaining accurate data on illegal immigrants. He noted that such individuals often enter the country through clandestine means, complicating any efforts for comprehensive record-keeping.
The court’s deliberations centered around the core issue of whether Section 6A contains any constitutional flaws.
The provision states that “all persons of Indian origin who came before the 1st day of January 1966 to Assam from the specified territory (including such of those whose names were included in the electoral rolls used for the General Election to the House of the People held in 1967) and who have been ordinarily resident in Assam since the dates of their entry into Assam shall be deemed to be citizens of India as from the 1st day of January 1966.”
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