STATE TIMES NEWS
New Delhi: The Supreme Court is scheduled to pronounce on Thursday its judgement 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 is likely to deliver the verdict.
The apex court on December 12 last year had reserved its order after hearing the submissions of Attorney General R Venkataramani, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, senior advocates Shyam Divan, Kapil Sibal and others for four days.
The bench, also comprising Justices Surya Kant, M M Sundresh, J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, reserved its 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.
It says those who came to Assam on or after January 1, 1966, but before March 25, 1971, from specified territories, including Bangladesh, in accordance with the Citizenship Act amended in 1985, and since then are residents of the northeastern state, must register themselves under Section 18 for acquiring Indian citizenship.
As a result, the provision fixes March 25, 1971, as the cut-off date for granting citizenship to migrants, particularly those from Bangladesh, residing in Assam.