The Supreme Court on Tuesday listed for January 10 a batch of petitions challenging the constitutional validity of Section 6A of the Citizenship Act, 1985, relating to illegal immigrants in Assam.

The PILs had sought quashing of Section 6A of the Citizenship Act to prevent the entry of illegal immigrants into Assam and the country.

The petition filed by the Assam Sanmilita Mahasangha and others had said the impugned provision was discriminatory and unconstitutional as it permitted the entry of foreigners into Assam till March 25, 1971, while the cut-off date for the rest of the country as prescribed under Articles 5 and 6 was July 19, 1949.

The five-judge Constitution bench headed by Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud posted the matter for hearing to January 10 to enable the parties to the dispute to segregate the issues to be resolved in order of preference. “…The counsel would segregate the cases which fall for decision before this court into distinct categories and the order in which arguments are to be advanced,” Justice Chandrachud said.

The issue was referred to a five-judge Constitution bench in April 2017 but never came up for consideration owing to technical reasons and the pandemic.

It was only in September this year that the matter got listed after then Chief Justice of India U.U. Lalit decided to revive all pending cases.

Critics of Section 6A have contended that the proviso is discriminatory as it has been specifically enacted to protect illegal immigrants from Bangladesh who have trespassed into Assam.

The petitioners have pleaded that Section 6A be struck down as ultra vires and the National Register of Citizens in Assam be updated by taking 1951 as the base year.