Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court declared Section 6-A of the Citizenship Act constitutional. This section grants Indian citizenship to refugees who came to Assam between 1 January 1966 and 25 March 1971. The court also said in its judgment that it is necessary to make the process of deportation of illegal immigrants who came to India effective after March 25, 1971. A 5-judge constitution bench headed by CJI DY Chandrachud said that the Assam Accord is a political solution to the problem of illegal migration.
A bench of Justice Surya Kant, Justice MM Sundaresh and Justice Manoj Mishra said that the existing machinery and tribunals working to identify illegal immigrants/foreigners in Assam are inadequate as per requirement. The Supreme Court said that enforcement of immigration and citizenship laws cannot be left to the whim and discretion of the authorities alone. For this, constant monitoring by this court is necessary. For this, the Chief Justice should form a special bench of the Supreme Court to oversee the case.
The potential for misuse is high.
Meanwhile, dissenting from the majority judgment, Supreme Court Justice JB Purdiwala held that Section 6-A, which provides for the granting of citizenship to immigrants who came to Assam between January 1, 1966 and March 25, 1971, Manifestly and constitutionally illegal. . The open nature of this section is more likely to be misused due to influx of fake documents.
Immigrants come with fake documents.
Justice Pardiwala, in a 127-page dissenting order, said that the nature of Section 6-A has become more vulnerable to misuse over time, as it has false dates of arrival in Assam, wrong genealogy and by corrupt officials. Fake records are used. . To provide assistance to illegal immigrants who came to Assam after March 24, 1971 but are not eligible under Section 6-A.
Section 6-A encourages further immigration into Assam without a deadline for application, he said. Immigrants come with fake documents. So that when caught, when the case comes before the tribunal, it can be defended as being related to the section 1966 or pre-1966-71.
