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Synopsis

Justice JB Pardiwala has rendered a dissenting opinion on the constitutional validity of Section 6A of the Citizenship Act. Section 6A has acquired unconstitutionality with the efflux of time, the supreme court judge has held.

"The efflux of time has brought to light the element of manifest arbitrariness in the scheme of Section 6A(3) which fails to provide a temporal limit to its applicability...", Justice Pardiwala has held.

The supreme court judge has noted the distinction drawn between the State of Assam and other states for the grant of citizenship to immigrants was on the basis of special circumstances prevailing in Assam at the time of enactment of Section 6A.

"Section 6A was a statutory codification of a political settlement reached between the Government and the people of Assam and thus was not violative of the equality clause enshrined under Article 14 at the time of its enactment in 1985. However, Section 6A has acquired unconstitutionality with the efflux of time...", the judge adds.

In conclusion, Justice Pardiwala has said Section 6A of the Citizenship Act deserves to be declared invalid with prospective effect.

"From the date of pronouncement of this judgment, all immigrants in the State of Assam shall be dealt with in accordance with the applicable laws and no benefit under Section 6A shall be available to any such immigrant. To be precise, if someone is apprehended as an illegal immigrant after the pronouncement of this judgment, Section 6A of the Citizenship Act will have no application...", he has held.

In December last year, Supreme Court had reserved its verdict in the pleas pertaining to Assam's National Register of Citizens (NRC), which challenged the constitutional validity of Section 6A.

Last year, the Union government had 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.

While hearing the submissions on behalf of State of Assam, a CJI DY Chandrachud led bench had also asked the Central government about the steps it was going to take to make the Bangladesh Border impermeable.

"What are we doing from here onwards to ensure that we have an impermeable border..what are the executive steps that the government of India is taking..because this is a crucial problem independent of 6A..", asked the constitution bench.

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 was 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.

Case Title: In Re Section 6A of the Citizenship Act

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