SC to Examine the Constitutional Validity of Section 6A of Citizenship Act

NEW DELHI: Following the pleas related to the Citizenship Act, the Supreme Court on Tuesday declared that it will examine the constitutional validity of Section 6A of the act. This section was inserted into the constitution as a special provision to handle the citizenship of people covered under the Assam Accord. The hearings will be started soon after the apex court closes the cases caused by the division in the Shiv Sena party.

Section 6A of the Citizenship Act deals with the people coming into Assam between 1st January 1966 and 25th March 1971 from certain regions, including Bangladesh. March 25, 1971, was fixed as the cut-off date for granting citizenship to Bangladeshi migrants in Assam under this.

A 5 member special bench headed by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud mentioned that they will be hearing the case from February 14. The main aim has been mentioned to be "whether Section 6A of the Citizenship Act suffers from any constitutional infirmity."

The framing of one issue does not stop the bench from framing other issues later, said the bench which also comprises Justices M R Shah, Krishna Murari, Hima Kohli, and P S Narasimha along with the Chief Justice.

The petitioners will present their arguments first followed by the GOI and after that, intervenors and others will be allowed to make their submissions. The bench added that the lawyers will have to file the written submissions and compilations of case laws and other materials within three weeks. The bench directed the apex court registry to provide scanned soft copies of the complete set of pleadings filed on this case.

A total of 17 petitions, including the one filed by Assam Public Works in 2009, are pending on the issue in the apex court.

Under the Assam Accord signed by the All Assam Students Union, the Government of Assam and the Government of India on August 15, 1985, Section 6A was inserted into the Citizenship Act to grant citizenship to the migrants to the state who arrived before the mentioned date.

An NGO from Guwahati challenged section 6A in 2012. They had termed it as arbitrary, discriminatory and unconstitutional claiming it provides different dates for regularising illegal migrants in Assam. A two-judge bench referred the matter to the Constitution bench in 2014.

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