Supreme Court directs Centre, Assam to respond on pending NRC procedures

The Supreme Court on Monday, August 10 sought responses from the Centre and the Assam government on a batch of petitions concerning the issuance of identity cards to people included in the final National Register of Citizens (NRC), published in Assam in August 2019.

A bench of Justice P.S. Narasimha and Justice Alok Aradhe was hearing petitions filed by organisations including the Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind, the All Assam Minority Students' Union (AAMSU) and the Assam Sankhyalaghu Sangram Parishad.

Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for the Jamiat, told the court that notices had already been issued in the matter, but the Centre and the Assam government had not yet filed their responses. He also sought permission to file a rejoinder after receiving the response from the Registrar General of India.

During the hearing, the bench was also informed about a separate petition filed by former NRC Coordinator Hitesh Dev Sarma.

Senior advocate Manish Goswami, appearing in the matter, said Sarma's petition raised issues contrary to those raised in the present batch of cases and requested that the matters be heard together.

Sarma's plea has sought fresh verification of the NRC, alleging multiple inaccuracies in the final list and calling for its re-certification.

After hearing Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati, who appeared for the Centre, the Supreme Court directed that Sarma's petition be tagged with the pending cases. The bench said all the matters would be taken up together after the Centre and the Assam government file their responses.

The petitioners have contended that despite publication of the final NRC in 2019, several mandatory steps required under the law remain incomplete. Among these is the issuance of national identity cards to more than 3.11 crore people whose names were included in the final NRC.

They have also raised the issue of rejection slips not being issued to around 19 lakh people excluded from the NRC. According to the petitioners, the absence of rejection slips has delayed the process of filing appeals against exclusion from the register.

The petitioners have argued that the failure to complete these procedural requirements has effectively left the NRC exercise unfinished and raised concerns relating to due process, fairness and constitutional rights.

The Supreme Court will consider the matters further after the Centre and the Assam government submit their respective responses.