Assam NRC: SC orders list of exclusion be published only online on August 31

A bench comprising Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justice R F Nariman said that like Aadhaar data, an appropriate regime be enacted for securing the Assam NRC data.
Assam: People wait in a queue to check their names on the final draft of the state's National Register of Citizens. (File | PTI)
Assam: People wait in a queue to check their names on the final draft of the state's National Register of Citizens. (File | PTI)

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Tuesday declined the government’s plea to re-open the National Register of Citizens (NRC) process in Assam and said there would be no sample re-verification of the data.

A bench comprising Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi and Justice R F Nariman said the list of those excluded from the final Assam NRC will be published only online on August 31, while hard copies of the inclusions will be handed over to district offices concerned.

The bench said it has considered the provisions under Section 3 and 6(a) of the Citizenship Act as well as the prescribed rules under the Act. 

This means that those born after December 3, 2004, will be excluded from the NRC should any of their parents be declared a foreigner by the tribunal or if their registered voter status is under doubt.

The court also said the NRC data should be kept as secure as Aadhaar, as it asked the government to implement an appropriate regime for it.

The court also made it clear that the Centre, Assam government and the NRC co-ordinator will have limited access to the data.

In July, the court had extended the deadline for publication of the final NRC in Assam by a month while rejecting the Centre and Assam government’s pleas seeking permission for 20 per cent sample re-verification.

The Centre and the Assam government had sought permission to find out wrongful inclusions and exclusions, virtually excepting that the process was not error-free.

‘Was NRC process error-free?’

Social organisation Assam Public Works said it was not sure if Assam would get a correct NRC.

APW president Abhijit Sarma said they had submitted five affidavits but the Supreme Court rejected the pleas of re-verification of citizenship documents of applicants.

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