A five-judge Constitution bench of the Supreme Court will Thursday pronounce its verdict on whether Section 6A of the Citizenship Act, 1955 — which granted citizenship to immigrants who entered Assam before January 1, 1966 — is constitutional.
The provision was added to the statute in 1985 following the signing of the Assam Accord between the Rajiv Gandhi government at the Centre and the All Assam Students’ Union. The accord was a culmination of a six-year-long agitation against the entry of Bangladeshi migrants into Assam.
The verdict is expected to answer crucial questions on the grant of citizenship to immigrants and the rights of “indigenous” Assamese people.
The petitioners include the NGO Assam Public Works, the Assam Sanmilita Mahasangha and others who claim that setting a different cut-off date for citizenship in Assam is “discriminatory, arbitrary and illegal”. They also claim that changing demographics in the state will affect the rights of indigenous Assamese people to conserve their culture under Article 29 of the Constitution.
Their petition, filed in 2012, states that “the application of Section 6A to the State of Assam alone has led to a perceptible change in the demographic pattern of the State and has reduced the people of Assam to a minority in their own State. The same is detrimental to the economic and political well-being of the State and acts as a potent force against the cultural survival, political control and employment opportunities…”
The Centre has relied on Article 11 of the Constitution which gives Parliament the power “to make any provision with respect to the acquisition and termination of citizenship and all other matters relating to citizenship”. Other respondents, including the NGO Citizens for Justice and Peace, argued that if Section 6A is struck down a large swathe of residents will be rendered “stateless” after enjoying citizenship rights for over 50 years.