Sarbananda Sonowal case

Polity & Governance glossary

Also called: Sarbananda Sonowal v. Union of India (2005) · Topic: Citizenship: Idea and Indian Law · NCERT: Beyond NCERT

Meaning

Sarbananda Sonowal v. Union of India (2005) is a Supreme Court judgment that struck down the IMDT Act 1983. That Assam-only law made the complainant prove that someone was a foreigner. The Court called large-scale illegal migration into Assam "external aggression", meaning an attack on the state from outside. Under Art. 355, the Union has a duty to protect every state against external aggression, so the Union had to act. The case matters because it made it easier to detect illegal migrants in Assam.

Example

After this judgment, cases in Assam went to Foreigners Tribunals. There, the person suspected of being a foreigner must prove that they are an Indian citizen.

Don't confuse with

  • In re Section 6A (17 October 2024): in this later case, the Supreme Court upheld Section 6A of the Citizenship Act by a 4:1 majority. Section 6A is the rule from the Assam Accord that uses the 1966 and 1971 cut-off dates. The 2024 case did not strike down a law, while Sonowal did.

Related concepts

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