Assam: SC to hear petition seeking release of locked NRC biometrics

On Monday, the Supreme Court will hear a petition seeking the release of locked biometrics of over 830,000 Assamese citizens whose fingerprints were collected for the National Register of Citizens (NRC).

Sushmita Dev, a Rajya Sabha member, said she filed the petition last year through advocate Tulika Mukherjee, but it was not immediately listed.

"When listing petitions, the Supreme Court prioritises the most important issues. "This is a serious public issue, and we are pleased that the court has agreed to hear it," Dev said.

In July 2018, the final draught of the NRC was released, which excluded four million people. During the claims and objections phase, over 2.7 million NRC applicants' biometrics were collected.

In August 2019, approximately 1.9 million names were added to the supplementary NRC. Those whose biometrics are locked will not be issued Aadhaar cards. As a result, it was denied to 830,000 applicants.