Guwahati, March 7: Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi today said the Supreme Court's recent order that D (doubtful) voters could cast their votes if they proved their citizenship under Section 6 A of Citizenship Act would help the ruling Congress in the Assembly elections.

"We (the state government) challenged the Gauhati High Court's order in 2011 that barred the D-voters from casting votes. But the Supreme Court has said D-voters who can prove their citizenship before the election officers can take part in the elections. This will help us, as they (the D-voters) had been blaming us for not taking up their cause," Gogoi said at a press conference here today.

In its order issued on February 8 this year, the Supreme Court, while refusing to interfere in the high court's order on D-voters, said, "However, we make it clear that in case any of the voters, referred to in the order passed by the single bench of the high court, shows to the authorities concerned at the appropriate stage that he is covered by Section 6A of the Citizenship Act, 1955, he shall be permitted to participate in the election process."

Gogoi, who distributed copies of the Supreme Court order in today's press conference, said D-voters proving their citizenship before the election officers could cast their votes in the Assembly elections.

There are 1,36,448 D-voters in Assam and the trial on their citizenship is under way in various foreigners tribunals in the state.

According to Section 6A of the Citizenship Act, 1955, those who migrated to Assam between January 1, 1966 and March 24, 1971 would be allowed to vote 10 years from the date of declaration of their migration.

Various organisations representing Hindu Bengalis in Assam had demanded that the cases against D-voters should be withdrawn, as the Centre issued a notification in September last year saying that non-Muslims who had migrated to India from Pakistan due to religious persecution would be allowed to stay without valid documents, on humanitarian grounds.

The groups demanded that those who were declared foreigners by tribunals and are put up in detention camps for deportation should also be released following the Centre's notification.