SC upholds validity of Section 6A of the Citizenship Act

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday upheld the constitutional validity of Section 6A of the Citizenship Act related to the grant of Indian citizenship to illegal immigrants in Assam by a majority verdict of 4:1.

A five-judge Constitution bench headed by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud said the Assam Accord was a political solution to the problem of illegal migration.

Justices Surya Kant, M M Sundresh and Manoj Misra in their majority verdict held that Parliament had the legislative competence to enact the provision.

Justice Pardiwala gave a dissenting judgment to hold Section 6A as unconstitutional.

The apex court on December 12 last year had reserved its order after hearing the submissions of Attorney General R Venkataramani, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, senior advocates Shyam Divan, Kapil Sibal and others for four days.

The bench reserved its order on 17 petitions questioning the constitutional validity of Section 6A, which was inserted into the Citizenship Act as a special provision to deal with the citizenship of people covered under the Assam Accord.

It says 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 a result, the provision fixes March 25, 1971, as the cut-off date for granting citizenship to migrants, particularly those from Bangladesh, residing in Assam.