Biometric data
The Supreme Court has also directed the government of India to go ahead with drafting the standard operating procedure for dealing with claims and objections of persons not included in the NRC.
“The process of looking into the claims and objections has to be based on fair procedure and considering the number of people who have been left out. The government should finalise the SOP and place (it) before the court by mid-August for its approval,” said a bench of Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justice RF Nariman.
During the course of the hearing, attorney general KK Venugopal told the court that the government wants to collect and maintain the biometric data of the people who have excluded form the NRC.
Venugopal submitted, “The government wants to collect the biometric data of the people excluded because there is a fear that they may migrate to neighbouring states and there is a need to track them.”
The court did not express any opinion on the government proposal and said the matter shall be taken up next on August 16. The issue of NRC is a sensitive one in Assam and has already much furore in the state that shares an international border with Bangladesh.
The first draft NRC for Assam was published in December 2017 as per the top court’s direction and published on the intervening night of December 31 and January 1 2018, in which the names of 19 million out of 32.9 million applicants were incorporated.
The top court had said at the time that the names of those citizens who do not figure in the draft NRC would be scrutinised and included in the subsequent list, if the claim is found genuine.
At the beginning of the hearing in the court, Prateek Hajela, NRC Assam Coordinator informed the court that “Draft NRC will be available for inspection of public till August 7 and persons who do not find their names in the draft NRC have the legal right to apply again by filing of claim during the period 30th Aug 2018 to 28th Sept 2018. From 7th Aug 2018, they will be able to know the reasons for non-inclusion by enquiring from the Local Registrar.”
When inquired about the date for the publication of the final NRC, Hajela, informed the court that at the moment it is not possible to commit to any date and the report that of the final NRC will be published by year end was only for budgeting purpose and no other matter. “expeditiously” in India were among some of the other issues addressed by the CPS.
Mallya’s defence team, led by Clare Montgomery, focused its objections on the lack of natural light available in Barrack 12 as it claimed that the “government of India assurance cannot be relied upon”. “The photos show natural light flooding into the cell. But our (expert’s) assessment is that… it is very difficult to work out where the light was coming from. Whatever the light is, is not natural light,” said Montgomery.
While Mallya’s defence team was insisting on an inspection of the jail cell, the CPS stressed that the Indian government had provided “adequate material” which rendered the need for an inspection unnecessary.The judge’s decision to ask for a video was welcomed by the CBI team present in court, who said India was keen to be “transparent” and have provided all the assurances asked for by the UK court. The CPS also presented documents to the judge related to the May 8 high court ruling on the worldwide freezing order against Mallya and the UK Court of Appeal having refused him permission to appeal the judgment last month.