Fixing Base Year for NRC: Supreme Court decides to follow a roadmap

The development comes after the Supreme Court heard pleas challenging the constitutional validity of Section 6A of the Citizenship Act.

In what can be termed as a significant development, the Supreme Court has decided to follow a roadmap for deciding on the base year regarding inclusion of names in the National Register of Citizens (NRC). Besides, the apex court has fixed January 10, as the next date of hearing on the important matter.

In a crucial hearing today, a 5-member Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court headed by Chief Justice UU Lalit, also exchanged views with the concerned parties. This was informed by All Assam Students Union (AASU) Chief Adviser Samujjal Bhattacharya.

Speaking to Northeast Live, the AASU leader informed that the Attorney General and Solicitor General initiated a discussion among the main petitioners of the state and other parties who are involved in this case. During the discussion, the Supreme Court Bench said that a roadmap will be prepared on how to carry forward these issues in the days to come.

Samujjal Bhattacharya added, “Accordingly, Chief Justice of India who is the head of the Constitution Bench will decide on the future course as per the roadmap.”

The development comes after the Supreme Court heard pleas challenging the constitutional validity of Section 6A of the Citizenship Act inserted by way of an amendment in 1985 in furtherance of the Assam Accord.

The provision provides that those who have come to Assam on or after January 1, 1966, but before March 25, 1971, from specified territories, including Bangladesh in 1985, and since then are residents of Assam, must register themselves under section 18 for citizenship. Therefore, the provision fixes March 25, 1971, as the cutoff date for granting citizenship to Bangladeshi migrants in Assam.

Meanwhile, AASU Chief Adviser Samujjal Bhattacharya reiterated that the indigenous people are facing serious problem due to the vexed issue of illegal migrants. Bhattacharya said,” The only way to solve the vexed illegal migrants problem is to implement the Assam Accord within the specific timeframe.” Besides, Bhattacharya said that there must be a time bound action plan to implement the Assam Accord.

On the other hand, a petition was also filed in the Supreme Court on the issue of Chakma refugees in Arunachal Pradesh. It has been informed to Northeast Live, that the Court responded to the petitioners by saying that it will hear this petition too once the roadmap for the fixing the base year of NRC is fixed.

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