The court also tagged a plea seeking re-verification of the 2019 NRC, while petitioners raised concerns over pending identity cards and rejection slips
Guwahati: The Supreme Court on Monday asked the Centre and the Assam government to respond to petitions seeking identity cards for people included in the final National Register of Citizens (NRC) published in 2019.
A bench of Justice P.S. Narasimha and Justice Alok Aradhe heard petitions filed by organisations including the Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind, All Assam Minority Students’ Union (AAMSU) and Assam Sankhyalaghu Sangram Parishad.
Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for the Jamiat, told the court that despite earlier notices, replies from the Centre and Assam government were still pending. He also sought permission to file a rejoinder after receiving the response from the Registrar General of India.
The bench also considered a separate petition filed by former NRC Coordinator Hitesh Dev Sarma seeking re-verification of the final register and its re-certification over alleged inaccuracies.
The court directed that Sarma’s petition be tagged with the existing NRC cases and said the matters would be heard together after the Centre and Assam government file their replies.
The petitioners said identity cards have not yet been issued to more than 3.11 crore people included in the final NRC. They also raised concerns over around 19 lakh people excluded from the register who have not received rejection slips, which are required to pursue the appeal process.
Further hearings will take place after the Centre and Assam government submit their responses.
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