Supreme Court upholds constitutional validity of Section 6A of Citizenship Act
The provision, introduced in 1985, allows foreigners who came to Assam between January 1, 1966, and March 25, 1971, to seek Indian citizenship.
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The Supreme Court on Thursday upheld the constitutional validity of Section 6A of the Citizenship Act, 1955.
The judgement by a bench of Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and Justices Surya Kant, MM Sundresh, JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra came on petitions seeking that Section 6A of the Act be declared as unconstitutional. The court had reserved its verdict in the matter in December.
Pardiwala, in a dissenting judgement, held the provision to be unconstitutional with prospective effect.
Section 6A was introduced as a special provision under the Act when the Assam Accord was signed between the Centre and leaders of the Assam Movement in 1985. It allows foreigners who came to Assam between January 1, 1966, and March 25, 1971, to seek Indian citizenship.
Indigenous groups in the state have alleged that this provision in the 1955 Citizenship Act has legalised the illegal infiltration of migrants from Bangladesh.
Chandrachud, in his judgement, said that the Assam Accord was a political solution to the problem of illegal migration, while introducing Section 6A was the legislative solution.
The judges in the 4:1 majority verdict observed that Section 6A was enacted to strike a balance between the humanitarian concerns at the time and the need to protect the local population. They held that Parliament had the...
