Hearing petitions challenging Section 6A of the Citizenship Act, a Constitution bench of the Supreme Court on Tuesday said it will decide whether the provision is constitutionally valid before proceeding with other issues raised in the petitions. The 5-judge bench is headed by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud.
The bench also includes Justices MR Shah, Krishna Murari, Hima Kohli and PS Narasimha. The bench said it would take up the matter after the hearing of petitions filed on the Shiv Sena split and subsequent developments in Maharashtra is over. The bench will start hearing the Maharashtra case from February 14.
The bench has clarified that the fact that it has framed a preliminary question, which it will first examine. At present, the Constitution Bench will decide whether Section 6A of the Citizenship Act, 1955 is constitutionally valid or not.
What is Section 6A of the Citizenship Act?
Section 6A of the Citizenship Act 1955 deals with special provisions for citizenship of persons covered by the Assam Accord. The provision states that all those who came to Assam on or after January 1, 1966 and before March 25, 1971 from the specified area (including all areas of Bangladesh at the time of the commencement of the Citizenship Amendment Act, 1985) and have since are residents of, they will have to register themselves under section 18 for citizenship.
This provision was introduced in 1985
This provision was introduced in 1985 when the Assam Accord was signed between the Government of India and the agitating groups. In 2012, the Assam Sammilita Mahasangh challenged Section 6A. It was called discriminatory, arbitrary and illegal.
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