On Thursday, the Supreme Court scheduled a hearing for November 7 to consider petitions challenging the constitutional validity of Section 6A of the Citizenship Act. This section was added as an amendment in 1985 to implement the Assam Accord. Chief Justice DY Chandrachud will lead the five-judge Constitution bench, including Justices AS Bopanna, MM Sundresh, JB Pardiwala, and Manoj Misra.
Originally listed for October 17, the case was rescheduled due to the next week being designated as a miscellaneous week in the apex court. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta informed the bench that the initial hearing date clashed with the miscellaneous week, leading to the rescheduling confirmed by the Chief Justice.
In the previous hearing, the Apex Court decided to title the proceedings as “In Re: Section 6A of the Citizenship Act, 1955.” The matter concerning citizenship in Assam was initially referred to a five-judge Constitution bench on December 17, 2014. The bench was constituted on April 19, 2017, to handle the case.
The National Register for Citizens (NRC), a comprehensive list of Indian citizens, was established after the 1951 national census. The Assam NRC aimed to identify illegal immigrants who migrated from Bangladesh after March 25, 1971.
In 1985, the Indian government, in collaboration with representatives of the Assam Movement, formulated the Assam Accord, outlining various categories of immigrants. The NRC exercise in Assam was conducted under Section 6A of the Citizenship Act, 1955, and the rules established in the Assam Accord of 1985.
Section 6A was introduced to implement the Assam Accord and provides the framework for determining the Indian citizenship status of migrants in Assam, including potential expulsion, based on their date of migration. The provision stipulates that individuals who came to Assam on or after January 1, 1966, but before March 25, 1971, from specified territories, including Bangladesh in 1985, and have since become residents of Assam, must register for citizenship under Section 18. Thus, March 25, 1971, is established as the cutoff date for granting citizenship to Bangladeshi migrants in Assam.
In 2013, the Supreme Court directed the State of Assam to update the NRC. On July 30, 2018, the final draft of the Assam NRC was released, resulting in the exclusion of 40.07 lakh applicants out of 3.29 crores, leading to uncertainty about their citizenship status. However, the apex court clarified that the draft NRC was preliminary, and no action could be taken based on it. On August 31, 2019, the final NRC list was published, with 19 lakh individuals being excluded.
In 2012, the Assam Sanmilita Mahasangha, a Guwahati-based civil society organization, along with others, challenged Section 6A, arguing that it is discriminatory, arbitrary, and illegal in providing different cutoff dates for regularizing illegal migrants who entered Assam compared to the rest of India.
The influx of migrants to India, especially from Bangladesh, was triggered by the Bangladesh Liberation War, leading to the independence of Bangladesh from Pakistan. Migration had already commenced before Bangladesh’s independence from East Pakistan in 1971. On March 19, 1972, Bangladesh and India entered into a treaty for friendship, cooperation, and peace.”