SC: No action against those excluded in Assam NRC

NEW DELHI: In an obvious move to douse the uproar following the publication of the draft NRC, the Supreme Court on Tuesday said the list cannot be the basis for any coercive action by any authority.

“What has been published is a complete draft NRC. It can’t be the basis for any action by any authority,” said a bench of Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justice Rohinton Fali Nariman as Attorney-general K K Venugopal pointed to the serious human problem.

Referring to the statement by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and the fears of influx to adjoining States, the attorney-general said claims and objection by all those left out in the draft NRC have to be considered and would involve a proper hearing with the local registrr issuing notice and calling for documents as provided under the statute.

Saying that the claims and objections will have to be considered carefully, the attorney-general told the court that “full opportunity must be given to all”. As Venugopal said there may be a need for biometric proof, the court refused to get into it.

“Mr AG, at the moment we don’t express any opinion. Our silence should not be construed as agreement or consent,” Justice Gogoi said. The court was also informed by the AG that the Standard Operating Procedure giving the modalities for dealing with the claims and procedures will be prepared by the concerned ministry by August 15. Fixing August 16 as next date of hearing, the bench observed that the SOP must be fair.

The State Coordinator of the National Register of Citizens, Prateek Hajela, informed the court about the compliance of the court’s order with the publication of draft NRC on July 30. On a question by Justice Gogoi about how much time it will take to publish the final NRC, saying “we have read somewhere that it will be published by December 31”, Hajela said: “We have not fixed any date.”