The Centre and the Assam government had sought 20% sample verification of the citizens included in the NRC, saying lakhs of people have been wrongly included in areas bordering Bangladesh due to the involvement of local officers.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday extended the deadline for finalisation of the Assam's National Register of Citizens (NRC) from July 31 to August 31.
The deadline was extended on the request of the Centre and the Assam government which moved the Supreme Court earlier this month seeking an extension of the July 31 deadline for finalisation of the NRC. NRC state coordinator Prateek Hajela had informed the top court that it won't be possible to publish the final NRC by July 31, the deadline fixed by Court.
The apex court, however, turned down the request of Union and Assam govt to conduct 20% sample re-verification of draft NRC in border areas. The Union and the state government had sought sample verification of the citizens included in the NRC, saying lakhs of people have been wrongly included in areas bordering Bangladesh due to the involvement of local officers.
While seeking an extension of deadline, the Centre told the Supreme Court that India cannot be the refugee capital of the world.
The first draft of the NRC for Assam was published on the intervening night of December 31, 2017, and January 1, 2018, in accordance with the top court's direction.
The draft NRC in July 2018 contained over 2.89 crore residents. About 40 lakh stood excluded then. Upon further verification, the NRC Coordinator weeded out another 1.02 lakh names.
Out of 40 lakh exclusions, only 2 lakh persons sought re-verification. If such a sample re-verification is carried out, Centre wants the exercise to be conducted by an officer who is strictly not a local and at a district away from the area in question.
The NRC list, identifying genuine citizens of Assam, was expected to be published by July 31. Hajela, in his recent report to the Supreme Court, had said the final NRC publication could extend to the first week of September. This delay has been due to the time taken for re-verification of claims submitted by persons who stood excluded in the draft NRC published last year.
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