Assam Accord Case: Supreme Court Upholds Validity Of Section 6A Of Citizenship Act— What You Need To Know

In a significant ruling, the Supreme Court has upheld the Constitutional validity of a citizenship rule hat recognised the Assam Accord and granted citizenship to the Bangladeshi immigrants who came to Assam before 1971.

This provision, Section 6A of the Citizenship Act, was added in 1985 to offer citizenship to Bangladeshi nationals who entered India between 1966 and 1971.

The five-judge constitutional bench, led by Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud, upheld the validity of Section 6A with a 4:1 majority.

Justice JB Pardiwala dissented, while Chief Justice Chandrachud, along with Justices Surya Kant, MM Sundresh, and Manoj Misra, upheld it.

This ruling came on the petition arguing that the influx of Bangladeshi refugees, from what was then East Pakistan, had impacted the demographic balance of Assam.

The petition claimed that Section 6A of the Citizenship Act violated the political and cultural rights of the original residents of the state.

While delivering the majority judgment, Chief Justice Chandrachud said that the enactment of Section 6A was a political solution to a unique problem faced by Assam since the massive influx of illegal migrants into the state after the creation of Bangladesh had seriously threatened its culture and demography.

"The central government could have extended the act to other areas as well, but did not do so because it was unique to Assam. The number of migrants coming to Assam and their impact on culture etc. is higher in Assam. The impact of 40 lakh migrants in Assam is more than that of 57 lakh in West Bengal because the land area in Assam is less than that of West Bengal," the Chief Justice said, NDTV reported.

This ruling is applicable for immigrants who came after 25 March 1971.

The Assam Accord, signed on 15 August 1985 between the central government and Assam’s movement leaders, was a response to the refugee crisis during the Bangladesh Liberation War.

Section 6A was subsequently introduced as a humanitarian measure to allow these migrants to acquire Indian citizenship.

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