NRC deadline extended, no re-verification

New Delhi: In a major setback to the Centre and the Assam government, the Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected the plea for 20 per cent re-verification of the names included in draft National Register of Citizens of the districts bordering Bangladesh as it permitted the request by the state coordinator for extension of time till August 31, 2019 for the publication of final NRC.

Declining the plea for 20 per cent random re-verification of the names included in the draft NRC for Assam in the districts bordering Bangladesh, a bench of Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justice Rohinton Fali Nariman said: “We do not consider it necessary to accede to the prayers for a further sample verification as prayed for on behalf of the Union of India and the State of Assam.”

Rejecting the prayer for further re-verification of the draft NRC on the ground of alleged wrongful inclusion of a large number of people not qualified to be included and also the exclusion of some, the court referred to the report by the state NRC coordinator, Prateek Hajela, telling the court that in the earlier exercise of 20 per cent random verification of names included in the draft NRC last year, the actual verification went to the extent of 27 per cent.

The court referred to the July 18, 2019 report by Mr Hajela which said that in course of consideration and adjudication of the claims, re-verification to the extent of 27 per cent has already been done. The said report mentions district-wise figures of “re-verification”, which has become an integral part of the process of consideration of the claims and objections on account of the procedure adopted, the court said on Tuesday, rejecting the plea.