- In a 4:1 majority ruling, a five-judge Bench headed by the then Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud on October 17, 2024 upheld the constitutional validity of Section 6A of the Citizenship Act, 1955 (1955 Act) that grants citizenship to immigrants who entered Assam between January 1, 1966, and March 25, 1971.
- While Justice Surya Kant authored the lead majority verdict on behalf of himself, Justice M.M. Sundresh and Justice Manoj Misra, the Chief Justice penned a concurring opinion. However, Justice J.B. Pardiwala rendered a dissenting opinion declaring the statutory provision to be unconstitutional but with a prospective effect.
- Section 6A is a special provision which was 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 at the Centre and the All Assam Students’ Union following a six-year-long agitation against the entry of migrants from Bangladesh into Assam.
- Under the provision, foreigners who had entered Assam before January 1, 1966 and were ‘ordinarily residents’ of the state would have all the rights of a citizen. Further, those who had entered between January 1, 1966, and March 25, 1971, would have the same rights except the right to vote for 10 years.
- The petition, filed in 2012 by NGO Assam Public Works, the Assam Sanmilita Mahasangha, and others, argued that the cut-off date for citizenship is ‘discriminatory, arbitrary, and illegal’. It was said that the provision would affect the rights of the Assamese people to preserve their culture under Article 29 of the
Constitution.
- Both the majority and CJI Chandrachud also held that the petitioners did not provide any proof to show that the influx of migrants affected the cultural rights of citizens already residing in Assam. Article 29(1) gives citizens the right to ‘conserve’ their language and culture. CJI Chandrachud stated that “Mere presence of different ethnic groups in a state is not sufficient to infringe the right guaranteed by Article 29(1)”.
- The majority also held that the cut-off dates of January 1, 1966 and March 24, 1971 were constitutional as Section 6A and the Citizenship Rules, 2009 provide ‘legible’ conditions for the grant of citizenship and a reasonable process. The verdict may also have an effect on the National Register for Citizens (NRC) in Assam.