Assam Accord: Apex Court to hear Pleas Challenging Section 6A of Citizenship Act on Dec 5

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court of India has scheduled a hearing on December 5 to address petitions challenging the constitutional validity of Section 6A of the Citizenship Act. This section was introduced as an amendment in 1985 in furtherance of the Assam Accord.

The decision to postpone the hearing, which was initially slated for Tuesday, came following a request from the Solicitor General of India and senior counsels representing the petitioners. They cited the need for an adjournment of the case, noting that this week marks the last working week before Diwali and that a previous Constitution bench had recently concluded its proceedings.

The five-judge Constitution bench, comprising Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, and Justices AS Bopanna, MM Sundresh, JB Pardiwala, and Manoj Misra, was originally intended to hear the case on November 7.

During the last hearing, the apex court had stipulated that the title of the proceedings would be "In Re: Section 6A of the Citizenship Act, 1955."

The origins of this legal matter date back to December 17, 2014, when concerns related to citizenship in Assam were referred to a five-judge Constitution bench. The Supreme Court then took up the case in earnest on April 19, 2017, establishing the bench to deliberate on this significant issue.

The context of this case revolves around the National Register for Citizens (NRC), which is a comprehensive list of Indian citizens, encompassing all essential information for identification. The initial NRC was compiled following the national census in 1951.

The Assam NRC, however, serves a distinct purpose. It aims to identify illegal immigrants in the state who migrated from Bangladesh after March 25, 1971. The Assam Movement and the Indian government jointly formulated the Assam Accord in 1985, outlining different categories of immigrants.

The NRC exercise in Assam operates under Section 6A of the Citizenship Act of 1955 and the rules established in the Assam Accord of 1985. This section was introduced to implement the Assam Accord, providing the framework for recognizing migrants in Assam as Indian citizens or expelling them, contingent on their date of migration.

According to Section 6A, individuals who arrived in Assam on or after January 1, 1966, but prior to March 25, 1971, from specified territories, including Bangladesh, in 1985, and have since become residents of Assam, must register under section 18 for citizenship. Thus, the provision designates March 25, 1971, as the cut-off date for granting citizenship to Bangladeshi migrants in Assam. 

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