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Supreme Court upholds Assam Accord: The Supreme Court has upheld the validity of Section 6A of the Citizenship Act, 1955, known as the Assam Accord. A five-judge Constitution bench, including CJI DY Chandrachud, upheld the validity of the section and rejected appeals that it led to loss of local language and culture due to migrants.
CJI DY Chandrachud, while delivering the judgement, said that the Assam Accord is a political solution to the problem of irregular migration and Article 6A is a constitutional solution. The majority found that Parliament has given legislative recognition to the implementation of this provision. Which has been implemented to maintain humanitarianism while keeping in mind the security needs of the local population.
40 lakh tourists in Assam
Among the states bordering Bangladesh, Assam has the highest population of 40 lakh immigrants. Although West Bengal has more than 56 lakh immigrants in terms of numbers, Assam is half of Bengal in terms of area. Therefore this provision is very important for Assam.
kill applicants
CJI Chandrachud said in his judgment that the presence of different ethnic groups in the state does not mean that there is a violation of the fundamental right to protection of linguistic and cultural heritage as per Article 29(1) of the Constitution. Applicants must prove that an ethnic group is not able to protect its language and culture simply because of the presence of another ethnic group. The Supreme Court has directed the Assam government to effectively implement the directions on the NRC issue, wherein it will have to take steps to identify and deport Bangladeshis living illegally in the state. The Supreme Court will monitor this process.
Rejecting the petition of the petitioners, Justice Surya Kant, who was part of the bench, said in his decision that brotherhood cannot be considered narrow, a person should be able to choose his neighbours. There is no violation of the cutoff date provision prescribed in section 6A. The petitioners argued that Article 6A violates the principles of fraternity enshrined in the Preamble of the Constitution. This has increased the risk of extinction of local language and culture.
Provisions contained in section 6A
- To declare Indian citizenship to people who migrated to Assam before January 1, 1966.
- To grant the status of Indian citizens, subject to lawful conditions and qualifications, to migrants residing in Assam between January 1, 1966, and March 25, 1971.
- Provision to declare illegal and deport Bangladeshis (foreigners) living illegally in Assam after March 25, 1971.
Why the controversy?
In December 2023, the central government filed an affidavit in the Supreme Court that the section does not provide accurate data on the extent of illegal residence in India as many people have entered the country surreptitiously. Therefore, it is not right to give citizenship to all of them. Some groups also complained that the clause threatened local culture, tradition and language.
