Assam NRC draft: No coercive action, must give reasonable opportunity to contest exclusion, Supreme Court tells Centre

Amid the huge hue and cry over the release of the final draft of National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Assam, the Supreme Court today directed the government not to take coercive action against those whose names are not there in the list. Observing that the list released is only a draft, the top court directed the Centre to frame a standard operating procedure to deal with claims and objections regarding Assam’s NRC.

The court also asked the Centre to place an SOP before it by August 16 for approval. It said that people should be given reasonable opportunity to contest exclusion.

The Registrar General of India has already announced that the people can file their claims and objections, starting August 30.

The Supreme Court’s observation comes in the backdrop of a massive slugfest between the ruling BJP and opposition parties over elimination of over 40 lakh names in the final draft of the NRC. The draft that was published yesterday, has names of 2.90 crore citizens out of 3.29 crore population in Assam.

The government has also said that no coercive action will be taken against those whose names have not figured in the draft list. Home Minister Rajnath Singh had yesterday informed the Lok Sabha that it is not the final list and that adequate time will be given to citizens to file their claims.

According to a reply by the government on the floor of the Rajya Sabha in November 2016, there are around 2 crore illegal Bangladeshi migrants staying in India, mostly in West Bengal.