Apex court pulls up key NRC officials
OUT OF TURN Supreme Court says there was no need for them to speak to media on NRC’s final draft list; calls it ’highly improper’
You are officers of the court. What is all this? What you say also reflects on the court. You are a courtappointed officer. JUSTICE RANJAN GOGOI , Supreme Court judge
NEWDELHI: The Supreme Court on Tuesday censured Assam coordinator for the National Register of Citizens (NRC) Prateek Hajela and Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India (RG&CCI) Sailesh for speaking to the media on the final draft of the NRC for the state, thereby committing contempt of court for which they can be sent to jail.
A bench comprising justices Ranjan Gogoi and RF Nariman expressed its strong disapproval of the public statements that Hajela made after the final draft of NRC was published on July 30, excluding four million residents of Assam. But the judges spared Hajela and Sailesh from further action.
“We could have taken a stern action but you still have to do a lot of work for the final NRC,” justice Nariman told the two officials.
Terming the duo’s statements “highly improper”, the court asked the officers to be “cautious in future” and also stopped them from speaking to the media again. The SC will now take up the matter on August 16, a date fixed on the last hearing on July 31.
Tuesday’s special hearing was convened by the judges to convey their concern to Hajela and Sailesh. Justice Gogoi said he and justice Nariman were “disturbed” by the duo’s comments and termed them “unfortunate.”
Visibly furious, the judge at the outset said: “You are officers of the court. What is all this? What you say also reflects on the court. You are a court-appointed officer.”
Justice Nariman too joined in. “Are you in any manner concerned with the claims and objections to be made? What have you said in newspapers and tell us how you are concerned with that. Who are you to say? Your job is to complete the draft,” he said.
Hajela apologised and gave his reasons for speaking to the media, only after consulting the RG&CCI . “I talked to the media to dispel apprehensions regarding dealing of complaints,” he said, offering an unconditional apology.
But justice Nariman said: “What apology? We find this very strange. Speaking for myself, I am appalled.”
Justice Gogoi reminded Hajela of its order and said the court had in the last hearing asked the Centre to submit the standard operating procedure to decide representation of those who did not figure in the NRC, while his statements suggested something else. “We have asked for a procedure and you say that any document may be included,” the judge said, quoting a newspaper report. Hajela had told a newspaper in an interview that any document would be accepted as proof of citizenship for those not in the draft.
Justice Gogoi then recalled that in its last order it was specifically said that the NRC was a draft document and no action can be taken on its basis. The judge said there was no requirement for Hajela and Sailesh to speak to the press. “Please don’t do that,” justice Nariman told the two.
The SC on July 31 said that there will be no coercive action by authorities against the four million people of Assam, whose names do not figure in NRC.