NEW DELHI: India's top court, on Tuesday, reserved its order on petitions challenging the constitutional validity of Section 6A of the Citizenship Act related to the grant of Indian citizenship to illegal immigrants in Assam.
A five-judge constitution bench headed by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, also comprising Justices Surya Kant, M M Sundresh, J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, reserved order on 17 petitions questioning the constitutional validity of Section 6A, which was inserted into the Citizenship Act as a special provision to deal with the citizenship of people covered under the Assam Accord.
The bench heard the submissions of Attorney General R Venkataramani, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, senior advocates Shyam Divan, Kapil Sibal, and others for four days before reserving the judgement.
In the last hearing, on December 7, the apex court had questioned the government as to what steps have been taken so far to curb illegal migration into Indian territory and directed it to furnish data on the number of Bangladeshi immigrants granted citizenship in Assam between January 1, 1966, and March 25, 1971, under section 6A (2)of the Citizenship Act, 1955.
In response, the Union government filed an affidavit before the bench on Tuesday, saying it would not be possible to provide accurate data on the number of illegal migrants living in the country, as they entered into the country in a "clandestine and surreptitious manner."
"Illegal migrants enter the country without valid travel documents in a clandestine and surreptitious manner. The detection, detention, and deportation of such illegally staying foreign nationals is a complex, ongoing process," the affidavit said.
The affidavit also stated that 14,346 foreign nationals were deported from the country between 2017 and 2022, and 17,861 migrants who had entered Assam between January 1966 and March 1971 were given Indian citizenship under the provision. "32,381 persons were declared foreigners by orders of Foreigners Tribunals between 1966 and 1971," it said.
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The affidavit further stated that in the last five years, a sum of Rs 122 crores was released by the Centre towards the functioning of such tribunals.
The total number of cases pending before the Gauhati High Court arising from the orders of the Foreigners Tribunal is 8,461 as of December 1, 2023, the government said.
Earlier, the top court had observed that the primary question in the case was "whether Section 6A of the Citizenship Act, 1955 suffers from any constitutional infirmity."
Assam Sanmilita Mahasangha, a Guwahati-based civil society organisation, along with other petitioners, had moved the Apex Court and challenged Section 6A way back in 2012.
Section 6A of the Citizenship Act was introduced to give effect to the Assam Accord.
It provides the framework to recognise migrants in Assam as Indian citizens or to expel them based on the date of their migration. 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 cut-off date for granting citizenship to Bangladeshi migrants in Assam.
