Prateek Hajela did not discharge his duty efficiently, review needed: Tarun Gogoi writes to Chief Justice

September 6: After the declaration of final NRC on 31 August, 2019, its State Coordinator Prateek Hajela is on the receiving end from individuals, political parties and other associations. The latest to include in the list who took on Hajela is former Chief Minister of Assam and Congress leader Tarun Gogoi. This seasoned politician did not just raise his finger towards Hajela verbally but filed a written complaint with the Chief Justice of India.

In a letter addressed to Ranjan Gogoi, Chief Justice of India on Thursday, Tarun Gogoi alleged that Prateek Hajela did not discharge his duty efficiently while preparing the final list published last week, and requested him to review the matter. Gogoi further stated that Prateek Hajela did not follow the direction of the top court although over 50,000 government officials were engaged in the NRC updation job and around Rs. 1,200 crore was spent at the cost of development work of the state.

A total of 3,30,27,661 people had applied to be included in the NRC. Of them, 3,11,21,004 have been included in the document and 19,06,657 excluded. Citing this huge number of persons being excluded, Gogoi said, “Now the question arises about the fates of several lakh people who have been left out of the NRC and have to move to Foreigners Tribunals to prove their citizenship and face harassment, not due to their faults but due to the callousness and inefficiency of the NRC authority.”

Gogoi appealed to the CJI to review the matter and ensure that genuine Indian citizens are “not deprived of their dignity and right to life and liberty as enshrined in the Indian Constitution”. The three-time Congress Chief Minister said a number of people were excluded though their names were there in the voters’ lists of both 1966 and 2019. He said, “The (voters’) list was prepared by Election Commission of India, a constitutional body, and so how could the names of people in it be excluded from the NRC?” He also claimed that Bharatiya Janata Party-headed governments at the state and the Centre are contradicting each other on the final NRC.

Meanwhile, Chandan Mazumder, a resident of Dibrugarh failed to find a place in the final National register of Citizens (NRC) published on 31 August, 2019. Mazunder claiming himself to be a bonfide citizen of India lodged a FIR against NRC State Coordinator Prateek Hajela on Wednesday.