SC to take final call on extension of dates for NRC publication on July 23

The Supreme Court to take a decision on the extension of the final date of publication of NRC on July 23. July 31 was the previous date set by SC for the publication. The NRC coordinator, however, mentioned the presence of Bangladeshi names on the list, and that time is needed to remove them.

New Delhi: The Supreme Court will take a final call on the possibility of extending the July 31 deadline for final publication of National Register of Citizen (NRC) in Assam on Tuesday.

Taking up the urgent petition filed by the government over seeking extension date for publishing the final NRC, the apex court on Friday, however, kept its decision reserved.

Representing Government of India and Assam Government Solicitor General Tushar Mehta argued that there were inclusions of illegal foreigners in NRC data. "India can not be a refugee capital and illegal migrants will have to be dealt with," said Mehta while appealing the court for extending the July 31 deadline.

Earlier, the Supreme Court had set July 31 as the deadline for publishing the final NRC.

The NRC coordinator informed the court that it needs time for consolidation of the list.

Abhijit Sharma, President of Assam Public Works (NGO) said: "For a clear and error-free NRC the court must extend the timing." APW is a petitioner in the case.

"There were many illegal Bangladeshis whose names have been included in the NRC. Time is required to cut their names out from the final list," said Sharma.

Referring to instances, Sharma said that Morigaon (a district in Assam) Deputy Commissioner had recently said that 49 Bangladeshis have been included in NRC. "There were so many instances where NRC officials included illegal Bangladeshi names by taking bribes," said Sharma.

The APW had earlier filed a petition in the court seeking 100 per cent verification of names included in NRC.

The Central and Assam government, however, appealed to the court for 20 per cent verification in the bordering districts (India-Bangladesh) and 10 per cent verification in other districts.

NRC coordinator Prateek Hajela asked for August 31 as the date for publishing final NRC. It is a process to detect and deport illegal Bangladeshi migrants in Assam.