A five-judge Constitution Bench led by CJI Chandrachud is hearing a batch of petitions challenging the constitutional validity of Section 6A of the Citizenship Act, 1955

The Supreme Court on Thursday directed the Union Government to furnish data on the number of immigrants who were conferred Indian citizenship through Section 6A(2) of the Citizenship Act, 1955. 

The Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY. Chandrachud-led Constitution Bench also sought to know the steps taken by the government to curb illegal immigration into the territory of India, particularly the North-Eastern States. Information was also sought on the influx of illegal migrants in such States post-March 25, 1971 – the date of commencement of the Bangladesh Liberation War.

During the proceedings, the Chief Justice also asked why ‘Assam was singled out’ in the application of Section 6A of the Citizenship Act when West Bengal shares a larger border with Bangladesh. 

Earlier, he had pointed out that the Assam Accord of 1985 and the new citizenship regime that followed in its wake might have been an “adjustment” reached by the Rajiv Gandhi government to calm the waves of violent anti-immigrant protests that rolled over the northeastern State for years and threatened national peace.

The Constitution Bench is hearing a batch of petitions challenging the constitutional validity of Section 6A of the Citizenship Act, 1955. It is a special provision inserted into the 1955 Act in furtherance of a Memorandum of Settlement called the ‘Assam Accord’ signed on August 15, 1985, by the then Rajiv Gandhi Government with the leaders of the Assam Movement to preserve and protect the Assamese culture, heritage, linguistic and social identity. 

The bench also comprising Justices Surya Kant, M.M. Sundresh, J.B. Pardiwala, and Manoj Misra made it clear that its ambit was limited to examining the validity of Section 6A and not the Assam National Register of Citizens (NRC). 

The provision establishes March 24, 1971, as the cut-off date for entry into the State – those who came to the State on or after January 1, 1966, but before March 25, 1971, were to be declared as “foreigners” and would have all the rights and obligations of Indian citizens except that they would not be able to vote for 10 years.

In December 2014, the Supreme Court framed 13 questions covering various issues raised against the constitutionality of Section 6A, including whether the provision diluted the “political rights of the citizens of the State of Assam”; whether it was a violation of the rights of the Assamese people to conserve their cultural rights; whether an influx of illegal migrants in India constitutes ‘external aggression’ and ‘internal disturbance’, among others.