Assam illegal immigrants: SC adjourns to December 5 hearing on validity of Citizenship Act’s Section 6A

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Monday said it will commence hearing on December 5 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 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 bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud deferred the matter after Solicitor General Tushar Mehta mentioned the matter.

“I am mentioning on my behalf and on behalf of the Attorney General for India. The case coming up tomorrow is the Citizenship Amendment Act. If the case can be deferred a bit...This is the last working week before Diwali and we just came out of one Constitution bench and, therefore, we need some time,” the SG said.

The bench then discussed the availability of all the counsels and posted the matter for hearing on December 1.

A five-judge Constitution bench was scheduled to hear the matter on Tuesday.

The issue of illegal immigration in Assam, has a deep-rooted historical background. It primarily involves the presence of undocumented immigrants, predominantly from Bangladesh, who have settled in the northeastern state of Assam over the years. The problem can be traced back to the partition of British India in 1947, which led to the creation of two independent nations, India and Pakistan. East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) was established as part of Pakistan, and Assam shares a long and porous border with Bangladesh, making it susceptible to large-scale migration.

Over the years, this migration has led to concerns among indigenous Assamese about demographic changes, resource allocation, and cultural preservation.