The Supreme Court (SC) on Tuesday said that there will be no coercive action by authorities against the 40 lakh people, whose names do not figure in Assam's National Register of Citizens (NRC).
The SC bench observed that it was merely a draft. The top court asked the Centre to formulate modalities and the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) including timelines for deciding claims and objections arising out of the publication of the draft NRC. The apex court made it clear that nobody can be deported or prosecuted on the basis of the publication of the final draft.
A bench comprising Justices Ranjan Gogoi and R F Nariman stated in its order that it is "only a draft NRC" and that the procedure contemplated under the law will have to be complied. "In this regard, the court would like to observe that what has been published is a complete draft of NRC and it can't be basis of any action by any authority," the court said in its order.
The bench also asked Attorney General KK Venugopal to frame a standard operating procedure (SOP) and submit it to the court by August 16 for its approval. The NRC exercise was monitored by the top court, with the NRC coordinator Prateek Hajela reporting directly to the bench.
Hajela also submitted compliance report in the court. Hajela in his report mentioned that the full draft will be available to public by August 7 and then they will get to know the reasons of their non-inclusion in the NRC. The report further added that those whose names are not included in the final draft will get the opportunity between August 30 and September 28 to file claims and objections before the registrar concerned and at the NRC seva kendras.
The court also took note of Venugopal's submissions that apprehensions have been expressed by certain quarters especially by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee about large influx of people to the neighbouring states. Responding to these submissions, the SC asked authorities to abide with the legal process envisaged under the Citizenship Act and for this purpose "a fair procedure will have to be laid down".
Venugopal had urged the bench to issue directions that no coercive action should be taken against anybody whose name is not included in the draft. He said the Centre had proposed to collect biometrics of those who are yet to establish their citizenship in view of apprehensions that those not in the list will migrate to other states. But the bench refrained from commenting on it. "We won't express any opinion. You give the SOP to us and prepare it after taking into confidence the state coordinator. You do what you think is right and we will do what we think is right. We will modify it if necessary," the SC bench told the AG.
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