The state coordinator of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Assam, Hitesh Sarma, has filed an appeal in Supreme Court, urging the apex court to pass appropriate directions for a “complete, comprehensive and time-bound re-verification” of the NRC published in 2019.
The demand is in line with the BJP-led state government’s position.
Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, who took charge on Monday, had earlier this week said, “Regarding the NRC, our position is very clear. In border districts, we want a re-examination of 20% names included, and in other districts, that of 10% names.”
The party’s manifesto for Assembly polls had stated, “We will initiate the process of the correction and reconciliation of entries under the Supreme Court-mandated National Register of Citizens in a structured manner to protect genuine Indian citizens and exclude all illegal immigrants.”
NRC state coordinator Sarma has argued in his application that there were multiple anomalies in the publication, which has led to ineligible persons being included in the list.
He stated in the application: “…several serious, fundamental and substantial errors have crept into the process of updating NRC in Assam. This has vitiated the entire exercise and the present draft and supplementary list for inclusion and exclusion of NRC that has been published is not free from errors. Thus, the draft NRC needs to be revisited by ordering a comprehensive and time bound re-verification of the same.”
Sarma has appealed to the apex court that the re-verification is done under the supervision of a monitoring committee in respective districts. He suggested that the committee may be represented by the district judge, district magistrate and police chief concerned.
The NRC, published in August 2019 under direct supervision of the Supreme Court, excluded around 19 lakh people from around 3.3 crore applicants. But NRC authorities have not yet been issued rejection orders, with which they can appeal against the exclusion at the state’s Foreigners’ Tribunals (FTs).