GUWAHATI: Assam Leader of Opposition Debabrata Saikia has welcomed Supreme Courts decision to admit the writ petition which sought its directive to ensure that the standard operating procedure enabled genuine Indian citizens to uphold their citizenship after being omitted from the complete draft NRC.
The Supreme Court issued notices to the Centre and the state on the writ on Wednesday.
The writ was filed by a decorated armyman and several residents of Assam, whose names were excluded from the complete draft of NRC.
Saikia in a press release here on Thursday said admission of the petition by the Supreme Court has infused new hope among the genuine citizens whose names have been omitted from the draft NRC.
He hoped that the stand taken by the apex court will enable lakhs of genuine citizens to secure justice.
The writ was filed among others by Morigaon-based Bir Bahadur Thapa who had retired from the Army after serving for 32 years and was bestowed the honorary rank of lieutenant for his outstanding and meritorious service.
Another petitioner was soldier Ajmol Hoque of Boko, Saikia, also a prominent Congress leader of the state, said.
Of the other petitioners, Mohammed Harun Ali alias Dipak Deka of Golaghat is an adopted child with no linkage document of his biological parents, Saikia said.
Petitioner Haripad Biswas of Nazira had submitted the certificate of registration issued in the name of his father by the Agartala-based registration authority in 1956.
Another petitioner Chan Mia of Chaygaon had been declared Indian citizen at a Foreigners Tribunal on two separate occasions, while Guwahati-based retired teacher Sushil Kumar Paul was excluded because his father's name was erroneously typed as Burmud Paul instead of Kumud Paul in the legacy data document, Saikia said.
The names of the three minor children of Sayed Ali of Chaygaon have been placed in the on hold category in the complete draft NRC on the ground that their parents facing trial as suspected foreigners, which is "untrue", the leader of opposition claimed.
Another petitioner - Samiron Nessa of Chaygaon, a BA student of Gauhati University, has been excluded on the ground that she is a Declared Foreigner, which is false, he added.
The complete draft NRC was published on July 30 this year.