The Supreme Court upheld the constitutional validity of Section 6A of the Citizenship Act of 1955 on Tuesday, which pertains to the granting of Indian citizenship to immigrants included in the Assam Accord.
According to Section 6A, individuals who entered India between January 1, 1966, and March 25, 1971, and have been residing in Assam, are permitted to register as citizens of India.
Subject to the provisions of sub-sections (6) and (7), 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 purposes of 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.
A Constitution Bench consisting of Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud and Justices Surya Kant, MM Sundresh, JB Pardiwala, and Manoj Misra upheld the validity of the provision with a 4:1 majority, with Justice Pardiwala dissenting.
In his separate judgment that concurred with the majority opinion written by Justice Kant, the Chief Justice of India (CJI) remarked,
"The Central government could have extended the application of the Act to other areas, but it was not done because it was unique to the magnitude of Assam."
Today's ruling in the case is expected to significantly impact the Assam National Register of Citizens (NRC) list.
During the hearings, the Court noted that the provision was introduced partly as a response to the atrocities committed against the population of East Bengal following the 1971 Bangladesh liberation war. Therefore, the Bench remarked that it should not be compared to an amnesty scheme for illegal immigrants in general.
The Chief Justice of India (CJI) emphasized that the validity of the Section should not be assessed based on political developments that occurred after its enactment.
The Union Home Ministry informed the Court that it could not provide accurate data on the extent of illegal migration into India, as such migrations often occur covertly. It stated in an affidavit that 14,346 foreign nationals were deported from the country between 2017 and 2022, and that 17,861 migrants who entered Assam between January 1966 and March 1971 were granted Indian citizenship.
Counsel for Petitioners Against Section 6A:
- Senior Advocate Shyam Divan and Advocate Somiran Sharma represented the All Assam Ahom Association.
- Senior Advocate KN Choudhury represented the Assam Sanmilita Mahasangha.
- Senior Advocate Vijay Hansaria appeared for Pranab Mazumdar.
Counsel for Parties in Favor of Section 6A:
- Attorney General R. Venkataramani, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, and Advocate Sneha Kalita represented the Union government, while Advocate Shuvodeep Roy appeared for the State of Assam.
- Senior Advocate Malvika Trivedi represented the All Assam Students' Union.
- Senior Advocate Sanjay R. Hegde and Advocate Adeel Ahmed appeared for the Assam Sankhyalaghu Sangram Parishad.
- Senior Advocate Salman Khurshid represented the Assam Jamiat Ulema.
- Senior Advocate CU Singh appeared for Citizens for Justice and Peace.
- Senior Advocate Shadan Farasat, along with Advocates Natasha Maheshwari, Prannv Dhawan, Hrishika Jain, Aman Naqvi, Abhishek Babbar, Mreganka Kukreja, Harshit Anand, and Shadab Azhar, represented the Social Justice Forum.
- Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal appeared for Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind.
- Senior Advocate Indira Jaising and Advocate Paras Nath Singh represented the All Assam Minorities Students' Union.
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