NRC: Deadline for filing claims extended to 31 December by Supreme Court

-Dharmananda Deb- Advocate

December 12: In a judgement delivered on Wednesday, the Supreme Court of India gave relief to those whose names were left out from the final draft and extended the deadline for filing claims and objections to the draft citizens’ register in Assam. This is for the second time the apex court has extended the deadline from December 15 to December 31. Earlier, the deadline was shifted from November 25 to December 15.

A bench comprising Justices Ranjan Gogoi and Rohinton Fali Nariman said that the process of receiving claims and objections by the people who have been left out of the National Register of Citizens will be extended to 31 December 2018. NRC coordinator Prateek Hajela informed the Supreme Court that “Out of 40 lakh people who were left out of the final draft NRC, 14.8 lakh people have filed claims.”

The claims-and-objections forms are available across 2,500 ‘seva kendras’, where people can file their appeal in their respective areas. People can file corrections to their names that are in the draft and also raise objections against suspected foreigners. However, while filing claims, the legacy person cannot be changed.

Further, it was directed by the apex court that the process of verification is to commence from 15 February, 2019 instead of 1 February, 2019. Objections can now be filed at the district headquarters. It was also directed that there would not be any cut-off date for list- B documents for proving linkage. The cut-off date of 31 August 2015 in this regard has been removed.

The Assam Government through Advocate Shuvodeep Roy had approached the top court seeking an extension of the deadline beyond December 15. The state government told the apex court that it is “not easy for people who are semi-literate to fill up the forms.” The state in its petition also stated that the Panchayat Elections in the state is another major reason for seeking more time.

The NRC is being updated with March 24, 1971 as the cut-off date for legitimate claim to Indian citizenship in Assam. The final draft National Register of Citizens (NRC) was published on July 30, 2018 and included the names of 2.9 crore people out of the total applications of 3.29 crore.