The Supreme Court has upheld the constitutional validity of Section 6A of the Citizenship Act, 1955, which grants Indian citizenship to immigrants from Bangladesh who entered Assam before the cut off date of 25 Mar 1971.
It was a five-judge Constitution bench, led by the CJI that ruled in a 4:1 verdict. The CJI, Justices Surya Kant, MM Sundresh and Manoj Misra upheld the validity while Justice JB Pardiwala dissented and quashed the section prospectively.
The majority verdict held that Section 6A was enacted to balance the humanitarian concerns with the need to protect the local population.
Sec 6A was brought in to deal with those covered under the 1985 Assam Accord signed by the the Rajiv Gandhi government and AASU. The provisions are :-
* Those who reached Assam after 01 Jan 1966 but before 25 Mar 1971 must register for citizenship.
* But they can't vote for 10 years. Those who had come after 25 Mar 1971 are bound to be deported.
* Petitioners argued that Section 6A helped mass immigration. Wanted 1951 as cut-off year to detect
and deport.
* SC said the impact of influx of migrants is higher in Assam due to its small size and detection is
tough.
My take
It was high time that the action was taken!
Tailpiece.
Got up at my usual time, the chores and was ready by a quarter to 10.
It was alternating between a sunny weather and rainy weather.
A quiet evening.
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