Assam govt created confusion by excluding lakhs of people from NRC, says Supreme Court

February 19: All does not seem to go well both for the centre and the state (Assam) as regards National Register of Citizens (NRC), when it comes to monitoring by the Supreme Court. On Wednesday, a Supreme Court bench headed by CJI Ranjan Gogoi rapped the Assam government for creating confusion over lakhs of people being left out of the final draft of NRC.

Reacting to a submission by Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, the apex court observed, “Forty lakh people were not included in Assam NRC which means they were, prima-facie, foreigners, but tribunals declared only 52,000 as foreigners and of this, the government has deported only 162.” The bench further questioned, “How can people have confidence in the Assam government? You are creating confusion.”

The centre in response to a query by the apex court informed that 938 people were detained in the six detention camps across Assam in the last ten years. It was further informed that out of the 938 detainees only 823 of them have been declared foreigner by the tribunals. The apex court also expressed serious concern over thousands of illegal migrants being kept in detention centres for years in Assam without being repatriated or deported to their countries of origin.

Click here to Read the Verdict of Supreme Court

The apex court said that the Centre and the Assam government will have to come out with a clear stand on various issues by holding joint meetings with competent authorities of the Union Ministry of Home Affairs and Ministry of External Affairs. The bench posted the matter for the next hearing on 13 March, 2019.

The Solicitor General Tushar Mehta told the bench that the Centre has allotted Rs 47 crore and Assam has provided land for building a new detention centre with various facilities, keeping in mind issues covering human rights. He added “that the new detention centre will be ready by August 31^st, 2019.”