SC Upholds Sec 6A of Citizenship Act, Assam Accord Gets Fresh Legal and Constituional Sanction

Almost 40 years after it was signed, the 1985 Assam Accord today got a fresh legal and constitutional sanction with the Supreme Court delivering a landmark judgement upholding the constitutional validity of section 6A of the Citizenship Act 1955.

The 5-Judge Constitution Bench comprising Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, Justices Surya Kant, MM Sundresh, JB Pardiwala, and Manoj Misra delivered the judgment by a 4 to 1 majority.

Section 6A is a special provision inserted into the 1955 Act in furtherance of a Memorandum of Settlement called the “Assam Accord” signed on August 15, 1985, by the then Rajiv Gandhi government with the representatives of the Assam Movement following the Indo-Pakistan War in 1971.

The court’s decision means that the non-resident Indians who came from Bangladesh between January 1, 1966 and March 25, 1971 are eligible for citizenship. Those who have got citizenship under this will retain their citizenship.

The order came on a petition that contended that the arrival of Bangladeshi refugees had impacted the demographic balance of Assam. It said Section 6A of the Citizenship Act violated the political and cultural rights of the original residents of the state.

CJI DY Chandrachud in his judgment, said that the Assam Accord was a political solution to the problem of illegal migration and Section 6A was the legislative solution. The majority of judges held that the Parliament had the legislative competence to enact the provision. The majority also held that Section 6A was enacted to balance the humanitarian concerns with the need to protect the local population.

The central government could have extended the act to other areas as well, but it 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.

Holding that March 25, 1971 was a reasonable cut-off date, the court contended that Section 6A was neither under-inclusive nor over-inclusive. “Citizenship can be given between the cut-off dates subject to fulfilling the conditions. Immigrants who enter after March 25, 1971 cannot be conferred citizenship,” said Justice Surya Kant.

The verdict is likely to have a significant bearing on Assam’s contentious NRC exercise.