The Supreme Court announced on Wednesday that it will commence the final hearings for petitions challenging the constitutionality of Section 6A of the Citizenship Act on October 17.
A Constitution Bench, comprising Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud along with Justices AS Bopanna, MM Sundresh, JB Pardiwala, and Manoj Misra, encouraged all parties involved to adhere to the Standard Operation Procedure (SOP) followed in the Article 370 case, stating, “The nodal counsel will ensure that compilation is in the same format as the SOP.”
During the proceedings, Attorney General for India R Venkataramani noted that computers were struggling due to the extensive case record.
Responding to this, CJI Chandrachud issued directives, stating, “The title of the proceedings shall be In Re: Section 6A Citizenship Act, 1955. The nodal counsels have prepared a common compilation. However, it needs to be brought in conformity with the circular issued on August 22 to streamline soft copies filed before the Constitution Benches. A common index also shall be prepared. The common compilation soft copies shall be prepared within two weeks (by October 3), and written submissions within a week thereafter (by October 10)…We will begin the final hearing in the Section 6A case from October 17, 2023.”
Section 6A of the Citizenship Act pertains to individuals who entered India between January 1, 1966, and March 25, 1971, and have resided in Assam, granting them the opportunity to register as citizens.
The outcome of this case is anticipated to significantly impact the National Register of Citizens (NRC) list.
