Assam Accord: SC to Commence Hearing on Sec 6A of Citizenship Act from Oct 17

The Supreme Court on Wednesday said that it will commence hearing on October 17 to review the constitutional validity of Section 6A of the Citizenship Act pertaining to illegal immigrants in Assam. Section 6A was included in the Citizenship Act as a special provision to address the citizenship of individuals covered by the Assam Accord.

This provision stipulates that those who arrived in Assam on or after January 1, 1966, but before March 25, 1971, from specified territories, including Bangladesh, as per the amended Citizenship Act of 1985, and have been residing in Assam since then, must register themselves under Section 18 to seek citizenship. Consequently, March 25, 1971, serves as the cutoff date for granting citizenship to Bangladeshi migrants in Assam.

A Constitution bench comprising five judges, headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud, acknowledged that the counsels for the concerned parties have prepared a common compilation in the matter. However, they noted that the common compilation needs to be streamlined.

The bench stated, “A common index shall be prepared. The soft copy of the common compilation shall be prepared by October. Written submissions shall be filed by October 10.” The title of the proceedings in the top court shall be “In Re: Section 6A of the Citizenship Act, 1955.”

On December 13, the Supreme Court had instructed the contesting parties’ counsel to determine the issues for adjudication in a batch of petitions challenging the constitutional validity of Section 6A of the Citizenship Act concerning illegal immigrants in Assam. The bench had directed the parties to segregate the cases into distinct categories and determine the order in which arguments would be presented.

The Constitution bench had also directed the apex court registry to provide scanned soft copies of the complete set of pleadings filed on the issue. There are a total of 17 petitions pending on this matter in the Supreme Court, including one filed by Assam Public Works in 2009.

Section 6A was introduced into the Citizenship Act as part of the Assam Accord, signed by the All Assam Students Union, the Assam government, and the Government of India on August 15, 1985, with the aim of detecting and deporting foreigners. In 2012, a Guwahati-based NGO challenged Section 6A, describing it as arbitrary, discriminatory, and unconstitutional, claiming it provides different dates for regularizing illegal migrants in Assam. In 2014, a two-judge bench referred the matter to the Constitution bench.