As per the Supreme Court decision, the citizenship of people who came to Assam from East Pakistan from 1 January 1966 to 25 March 1971 will remain. People who came after that will be considered illegal citizens.
On Thursday (17 October 2024), the Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court held an important hearing on Section 6A of the Citizenship Act. In this hearing, a bench of five judges recognized the constitutional validity of Section 6A under the amendment made in 1985 to further the Assam Accord.
Hearing decision
CJI DY Chandrachud, Justice Suryakant, MM Sundaresh and Manoj Mishra delivered this verdict by majority, while Justice JB Pardiwala dissented.
Statement of the Chief Justice
CJI Chandrachud said that the majority decision is that Section 6A of the Citizenship Act is constitutionally justified. Justice Pardiwala expressed his dissent against it. According to this decision, there is no threat to the citizenship of people who came to Assam from Bangladesh between 1 January 1966 and 24 March 1971. According to the data, there are 40 lakh illegal immigrants in Assam, while in West Bengal their number is 57 lakh. Given the small population of Assam, it was considered necessary to create a separate cut-off date for there.
Importance of cut-off date
The Supreme Court also clarified that the cut-off date of 25 March 1971 is correct. The petitioner had argued that Section 6A is unconstitutional, as it determines different dates for citizenship than Articles 6 and 7 of the Constitution. On this, the court said that it is mandatory for every citizen to follow the law and Constitution of India.
Court’s view
The Supreme Court also clarified that the absence of an oath of allegiance for granting citizenship cannot be considered a violation of the law. The court ensured that Section 6A does not apply permanently, and did not want to interfere with it.
Thus, the Supreme Court has upheld the Assam Accord of 1985 and Section 6A of the Citizenship Act by a majority of 4:1, thereby protecting the citizenship of Bangladeshi nationals who came to Assam.
