The Supreme Court has said that strict action cannot be taken against the people on the basis of not being included in the final draft of the National Register of Citizens in Assam. This is just a draft. In the draft released on Monday, 40.70 lakh people of Assam have not been included due to non-availability of Indian citizenship.
A special bench of Justice Ranjan Gogoi and RF Nariman on Tuesday instructed the Center that all the people should be given full opportunity to register their claims and objections. Its process should be neutral. Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) should be made for consideration of people's appeal and it should be presented before the court till 16th August. The next hearing on the case will be on August 16.
On behalf of the Central Government, attorney general K.K. Venugopal also said that on the basis of the draft, punitive action will not be taken against anybody. The West Bengal government has feared that a large number of people can come in their state. Therefore, the courts allow biometric data of people not included in the NRC.
On this, the bench said, "We do not want to express any thoughts on this. Our silence is neither consensual nor opposed nor assurances. The bench refused to give any oral assurance to the people not included in the NRC. The bench said the court does not give assurance for now."
NRC convener of the draft Assam Hajela handed over to NRC Draft Court on 7th August. He told that the final draft of the NRC will be made public from 7th August. People can also check their status online. Between August 8 and 20, people will know why their names are not included. People can file claims and objections between August 30 and September 28.
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