Centre, Assam move Supreme Court seeking more time for NRC verification

The Centre and the Assam government Friday moved the Supreme Court seeking an extension of the July 31 deadline for finalisation of the National Register of Citizens (NRC).

The Centre told a bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi that India cannot be the refugee capital of the world.

The Union and state government also 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.

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. Names of 1.9 crore people out of the 3.29 crore applicants were incorporated then.

NRC state coordinator Prateek Hajela informed Supreme Court that it won't be possible to publish the final NRC by July 31, the deadline fixed by Court.

He has stated that the supplementary list will be out only by August 31 and the final consolidated list a week later.

The SC has not passed any order and had fixed hearing on Tuesday to consider Central Government demand for sample re-verification of NRC list for areas bordering Bangladesh.  Centre claims that certain illegal inclusions and exclusions have come to its notice. The Court asked the Centre to supply a copy of their application to the State NRC Coordinator.

Assam, which had faced an influx of people from Bangladesh since the early 20th century, is the only state having an NRC which was first prepared in 1951.

(With inputs from PTI)