In a majority verdict, the Supreme Court on Thursday upheld the constitutional validity of Section 6A of the Citizenship Act which granted Indian citizenship to immigrants who came to Assam between January 1, 1966 and March 25, 1971. A five-judge Constitution bench headed by CJI DY Chandrachud said the Assam Accord was a political solution to the problem of illegal migration.

Section 6A was inserted in 1985 into the Citizenship Act as a special provision to deal with the citizenship of people covered under the Assam Accord. The CJI upheld the validity and said the magnitude of influx of migrants in Assam is higher as compared to other states considering the smaller land size and the detection of foreigners is an elaborate process.