NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court has reserved its verdict in regards to the pleas that challenged the constitutional validity of section 6A of the citizenship act.
The pleas were heard by a Supreme Court bench comprising chief justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud along with justices Surya Kant, MM Sundresh, JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra,
The Supreme Court bench heard the pleas for a period of four days before reserving its judgement on the matter on Tuesday (December 12).
Section 6A of the citizenship act 1955 allows foreign migrants of Indian origin, who came to Assam after the January 01, 1966 but before the March 25, 1971 to seek Indian citizenship.
Certain indigenous organisations from Assam challenged this provision, contending that it legalised illegal infiltration of foreign migrants from Bangladesh.
Earlier on December 07 this year, the Supreme Court had directed the ministry of home affairs (MHA) to submit data in regards to the inflow of illegal migrants to Assam after March 25, 1971.
However, the union government claimed before the Supreme Court that illegal migrants entered into the country through Assam and other states without valid travel documents in a clandestine and surreptitious manner, so it is not possible to collect accurate data of such people.
Ajay Kumar Bhalla, the MHA secretary stated, “The detection, detention, and deportation of such illegally staying foreign nationals is a complex ongoing process.”
Section 6A is a special provision on the citizenship of persons covered by the Assam Accord and provides that the people who entered India between January 1, 1966, and March 25, 1971, and have been living in Assam, would be allowed to register themselves as citizens of India.
Calling out this provision to be discriminatory, a direction is sought to the concerned authority to update the NRC based on the details incorporated in the NRC prepared in 1951 as opposed to updating the same by taking account of the electoral rolls prior to March 24, 1971.