Assam illegal immigrants: Supreme Court to commence hearing on validity of Citizenship Act's Section 6A on October 17

New Delhi, September 20

The Supreme Court on Wednesday said it would commence hearing on October 17 to examine the constitutional validity of Section 6A of the Citizenship Act relating to illegal immigrants in Assam.

Section 6A in the Citizenship Act was inserted as a special provision to deal with the citizenship of people covered by 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, as per the Citizenship Act amended in 1985, and since then are residents of Assam. They must register themselves under section 18 for citizenship.

As a result, the provision fixes March 25, 1971 as the cut-off date for granting citizenship to Bangladeshi migrants in Assam.

A five-judge Constitution bench headed by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud noted that nodal counsel had prepared common compilation in the matter. However, common compilation needed to be streamlined.

“A common index shall be prepared. The soft copy of common compilation shall be prepared by October. Written submissions shall be filed by October 10,” the bench also comprising Justices AS Bopanna, MM Sundresh, JB Pardiwala, and Manoj Misra said.