Assam immigration: SC hears pleas to examine validity of Citizenship Act
A five-judge bench of the Supreme Court on Tuesday began hearing on 17 petitions seeking to examine the constitutional validity of Section 6A of the Citizenship Act relating to illegal immigrants in Assam.
The Constitution Bench headed by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud is hearing the submissions of senior advocate Shyam Divan, appearing on behalf of the petitioners, in the matter.
Besides the CJI, judges Surya Kant, MM Sundresh, JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra are part of the bench.
Divan is currently referring to the historical background of the trial and the 2014 verdict of the Supreme Court, which referred the pleas to the larger Constitution bench.
Section 6A in the Citizenship Act was inserted as a special provision on the citizenship of people covered by the Assam Accord.
The provision provides that those who came to Assam on or after January 1, 1966 but before March 25, 1971 from specified areas, including Bangladesh, under the Citizenship Act amended in 1985, and have since become residents of Assam, shall register under section 18 for citizenship.
As a result, the provision sets March 25, 1971 as the cut-off date for granting citizenship to Bengali migrants in Assam.
While hearing the case in September, the Supreme Court had said the title of the proceedings would read: “In Re: Section 6A of the Citizenship Act, 1955.”
βIt was agreed at the hearing that the disputing parties will consist of (i) those who, on the one hand, challenge the constitutional validity of section 6A of the Citizenship Act 1955; and (ii) those including the Union of India and the State of Assam supporting the validity of the provision,β the bench had said in its September 20 order.
The court had directed the registry of the apex court to furnish scanned copies of the entire batch of pleadings filed on the issue.
As many as 17 petitions, including the one filed by Assam Public Works in 2009, are pending in the apex court on the issue.
Under the Assam Accord signed by the All Assam Students Union, the Assam Government and the Government of India on August 15, 1985 to detect and deport the foreigners, Section 6A was inserted in the Citizenship Act to grant citizenship to people who have migrated to Assam.
A Guwahati-based NGO challenged Section 6A in 2012, calling it arbitrary, discriminatory and unconstitutional, claiming that it provides different dates for regularization of illegal migrants in Assam.
A two-judge bench had referred the matter to the Constitution Bench in 2014.
(Only the headline and image of this report may have been reworked by Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is automatically generated from a syndicated feed.)