SC Upholds Section 6A of Citizenship Act

Guwahati: In what was widely welcomed by most of the political parties including the signatories of historic Assam Accord, the Supreme Court on Thursday upheld the validity of a key citizenship rule that recognised the Assam Accord and granted citizenship to the Bangladeshi immigrants who came to Assam before March 25, 1971. The section 6A of the Citizenship Act was introduced in 1985 to allow Bangladeshi migrants, who entered India between 1966-1971, to enrol as Indian citizens.

A five-judge constitution bench led by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud upheld section 6A by a 4:1 majority with Justice JB Pardiwala dissenting. Other judges on the bench - including the CJI, Justices Surya Kant, MM Sundresh and Manoj Misra - upheld it.

The CJI Justice DY Chandrachud in his judgment said that the Assam Accord was a political solution to the problem of illegal migration and Section 6A was the legislative solution. The majority held that the Parliament had the legislative competence to enact the provision. The majority held that Section 6A was enacted to balance the humanitarian concerns with the need to protect the local population.

The majority also held that the singling out of Assam from other states that shared a larger border with Bangladesh was rational as the percentage of immigrants among the local population in Assam was higher there than in other border states. The impact of 40 lakh migrants in Assam is greater than the 57 lakh migrants in West Bengal because the land area in Assam is much less compared to West Bengal.

The majority also held that the cut-off date of March 25,1971 was rational, as it was the date when the Bangladesh liberation war ended. The objective of the provision must be seen in the backdrop of the Bangladesh war. The majority was of the view that Section 6A was "neither over-inclusive nor under-inclusive."

The CJI also observed in his judgment that the mere presence of different ethnic groups in a state does not mean that the fundamental right to protect linguistic and cultural heritage as per Article 29(1) of the Constitution has been infringed. The petitioners have to prove that one ethnic group is not able to protect their own language and culture just because of the presence of another ethnic group.

The order came on a petition that contended that the arrival of Bangladeshi refugees (then East Pakistan) had impacted the demographic balance of Assam. The petitioners also pleaded to consider 1951 as the cut-off date for detection and deportation of foreigners, which is applicable in the rest of the country, in Assam too. It said that section 6A of the Citizenship Act violated the political and cultural rights of the original residents of the state.

The section 6A was added to the statute in 1985 following the signing of the Assam Accord.

The Assam Accord was signed on August 15, 1985 between the centre and representatives of the All Assam Students Union (Aasu) in response to a massive refugee influx during the Bangladesh liberation war.

The All Assam Students Union (Aasu) which was the signatory of the Assam Accord on Thursday welcomed the order of the apex court while All India United Democratic Front said that the order of the supreme court has once again strengthened their belief in the judiciary. The AIUDF appealed to the government to publish the National Register of Citizens without further delay as it was prepared on the basis of the provision of the Assam Accord that was upheld by the apex court also.