The Supreme Court has directed the Centre and the Assam government to provide extensive data, including those on the number of Bangladeshi immigrants granted Indian citizenship in Assam between January 1, 1966 and March 25, 1971, while taking note of pleas that illegal immigration has impacted demography and cultural fabric of the border state.
As per PTI report, While hearing as many as 17 petitions to examine the constitutional validity of Section 6A of the Citizenship Act relating to illegal immigrants in Assam, a five-judge constitution bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud passed an order seeking details from the two governments by December 11.
“We are of the considered view that an affidavit be filed before this court by the Centre on or before Monday giving the data on the following aspects: “1. The number of persons to whom citizenship has been granted under the provisions of Section 6A two namely with reference to the time period of persons who came into Assam between January 1, 1966 and March 25 March 1971,” it said.
The bench, also comprising justices Surya Kant, M M Sundresh, J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, sought details as to how many foreigners have been detected under the Foreigners Tribunals Order 1964 with reference to the above mentioned period.
