Supreme Court to hear Assam NRC case tomorrow

Guwahati: The Supreme Court will hear the Assam NRC case on Monday. Earlier, the Supreme Court had ordered the transfer of NRC Coordinator Prateek Hajela to Madhya Pradesh. The reason for his transfer was not given but it was believed that Hajela' security was the reason for the order. The Supreme Court had said that the NRC database confidentiality will be maintained.

Earlier, the Supreme Court had extended the deadline for preparation of the final draft of Assam NRC from July 31 to August 31. However, the court rejected the demand of the Central and State governments for a re-review of those found in the NRC draft. The central and state government had demanded a 20% re-check in the border districts.

In the final draft of NRC that was released on July 30, 2019 about 40 lakh people were left out. The SC had made it clear that while presenting their claim, the individual must have submitted one or more than one of the ten documents which can be used to stake their claim. The top court asked Hajela to submit his point on the use of the remaining five documents to the court within 15 days.

On behalf of the government, Attorney General KK Venugopal had sought permission to base all the 15 documents saying that most of the people of Assam live in villages and are less educated, those who have not made it to the list should get another chance to stake their claim. The apex court said that no one should get a chance again, the matter is only to examine the documents, but given the seriousness of the matter, another chance is being accorded.

The Supreme Court had said that the five documents that the court does not want to allow are documents that can be forged. The remaining ten documents must have been released from the government agency.