The Supreme Court of India upheld the constitutional validity of Section 6A of the Citizenship Act, which denies citizenship to individuals who entered India after 25 March 1971.
The ruling was delivered on Thursday by a bench of four members led by Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud.
The court ruled in favour of maintaining the validity of this provision, which provides citizenship benefits to those who entered the country between 1 January 1966, and 25 March 1971.
Most of these beneficiaries are Bangladeshi nationals. Therefore, individuals who arrived in India after this cut-off date will not be eligible for citizenship.
However, Justice J.B. Pardiwala dissented, stating that Section 6A of the Citizenship Act, enacted in 1955, is unconstitutional. Despite this dissenting opinion, the majority ruling upheld the provision with a 4:1 vote.
Section 6A was specifically created for Assam in response to the violent anti-immigration movements in the state.
This provision was established as part of the Assam Accord, a settlement reached between the Indian government and protesters in 1985 to address the issues of illegal immigration from Bangladesh.
This ruling has significant implications for the status of many individuals in Assam, further complicating the contentious issue of citizenship in the region.
