SC declines plea to extend July 31 deadline for NRC publication

Guwahati, 24 January 2019:

The Supreme Court (SC) on Thursday declined a plea to extend the July 31, 2019 deadline for publication of final National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Assam and made it clear that final list must be prepared by the deadline date itself.

The SC ordered State NRC Coordinator Prateek Hajela, Assam Chief Secretary and Election Commission to meet within 7 days to decide how to conduct the verification hearings.

However, Prateek Hajela informed the court that there are 36.2 lakh claims for inclusion of their names in final NRC with over 2 lakh objections against names included in draft till December 31. He further informed that notices are to be issued to claimants 15 days before hearing of claims, that will start on February 15

The apex court also stated that the upcoming general election and exercise of NRC should not be affected while asking the respective authorities to sit together to plan them.

A bench comprising Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justice R F Nariman said Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, who was appearing for the Assam, will ensure that the meeting is held within seven days.