The Supreme Court of India has issued a notice to the Union government after hearing a petition filed by the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) challenging a recent provision that allows certain religious minorities from neighbouring countries to stay in Assam even if they had entered India without valid documents. The order, issued earlier this year, gives protection to religious minorities from Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan who came to India before 31 December 2024.
The AGP has argued that this new exemption order goes against the spirit of the Assam Accord of 1985, which had fixed 25 March 1971 as the final date for identifying and taking action against illegal migrants in Assam. The Supreme Court, after hearing preliminary arguments, asked the Ministry of Home Affairs to respond to the petition within four weeks.
A Bench led by Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna issued the notice during the brief hearing. Some reports also suggested that Justice Surya Kant was part of the Bench hearing the matter. The petition has been presented by senior advocate Jayant Bhushan and advocate Rahul Pratap on behalf of the AGP. 
The AGP has said that the new clause in the Immigration and Foreigners (Exemption) Order, 2025, goes against constitutional safeguards that were specially given to Assam through the Assam Accord. The Assam Accord is a historic agreement signed between the Centre and leaders of the Assam agitation in 1985. The purpose of the Accord was to protect the social, cultural, and demographic structure of the Assamese society by detecting and removing illegal migrants who entered the state after 25 March 1971.
This date was later added into the law through Section 6A of the Citizenship Act, 1955. The Supreme Court had also upheld this section by a Constitution Bench in October 2024. The AGP’s petition states that the new exemption order effectively changes this date and allows people who came after 1971 to stay in Assam, simply because the government has now decided to exempt certain communities for humanitarian reasons.
The petition challenges Clause 3(1)(e) of the Immigration and Foreigners (Exemption) Order, 2025. This clause permits certain persecuted religious minorities from the three neighbouring countries to continue living in Assam even if they entered illegally before 31 December 2024. According to the AGP, this clause weakens the original cut-off date agreed upon in the Accord and makes Section 6A meaningless, because it legalises migration that took place after the fixed date of 1971.
The AGP has also questioned Section 33 of the Immigration and Foreigners Act, 2025, which gives the Centre powers to issue such exemption orders. According to the party, the section gives the Union government unrestricted authority to decide who can stay in the country, especially in Assam, without any reference to existing laws or safeguards. The petition says that such wide powers are discriminatory and are against constitutional arrangements made for Assam.
The party has described the new provision as a direct assault on the constitutional and legislative safeguards that were specially created for Assam. The AGP, being one of the original signatories of the Assam Accord, has also reminded the court that the Accord was the result of a long political movement in the state that lasted for six years. The movement had cost many lives and had deeply affected Assam’s political history.
According to AGP leaders, giving protection to post-1971 migrants, even if they are minorities from neighbouring countries, would disturb the demographic structure of the state, which was protected under the Accord. They fear that this may also lead to large population changes in certain districts of Assam and could put pressure on language, culture, and land resources.
