The Supreme Courtroom has upheld the validity of a key citizenship rule that recognised the Assam Accord, granting citizenship to Bangladeshi refugees who had arrived earlier than 1971. Part 6A of the Citizenship Act was launched in 1985 to permit refugees from Bangladesh (then East Pakistan), who entered India between 1966-1971, to register as Indian residents.

A five-judge constitutional bench led by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud upheld the validity of Part 6A by a 4:1 majority with Justice JB Pardiwala dissenting. The bench additionally comprised Justices Surya Kant, MM Sundresh, and Manoj Misra.

“The courtroom’s determination signifies that the non-resident Indians who got here from Bangladesh between January 1, 1966 and March 25, 1971 are eligible for citizenship. Those that have gotten citizenship below it will retain their citizenship,” the bench stated.

The order got here on a petition that contended that the arrival of Bangladeshi refugees had impacted the demographic steadiness of Assam. It stated Part 6A of the Citizenship Act violated the political and cultural rights of the unique residents of the state.

The Chief Justice stated the enactment of Part 6A was a “political resolution” to a novel drawback confronted by Assam because the inflow of refugees had threatened its tradition and demography.

“The central authorities may have prolonged the act to different areas as properly, but it surely didn’t accomplish that as a result of it was distinctive to Assam. The variety of migrants coming to Assam and their affect on tradition and so forth. is larger in Assam. The affect of 40 lakh migrants in Assam is greater than that of 57 lakh in West Bengal as a result of the land space in Assam is lower than that of West Bengal,” the Chief Justice stated.

The Assam Accord was signed on August 15, 1985 between the centre and representatives of the Assam motion in response to an enormous refugee inflow through the Bangladesh liberation conflict. As a humanitarian measure, Part 6A was added to the Citizenship Act to permit the migrants who got here earlier than March 25, 1971 to get Indian citizenship, however with out voting rights.

The Supreme Courtroom stated the centre was proper in its competition that uncontrolled immigration in Assam affected its tradition and that it is the responsibility of the federal government to stop unlawful immigration.

Holding that March 25, 1971 was an affordable closing date, the courtroom contended that Part 6A was neither under-inclusive nor over-inclusive. “Citizenship will be given between the deadlines topic to fulfilling the situations. Immigrants who enter after March 25, 1971 can’t be conferred citizenship,” stated Justice Surya Kant.