File Picture Courtesy : dnaindia.com
The Supreme Court has extended till July 30 the deadline for the publication of the draft National Register of Citizens in Assam as the earlier deadline of June 30 could not be adhered to in the wake of the flood situation in the State.
Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justice Rohinton Fali Nariman gave an extension of one month after going through the report submitted by the State Co-ordinator, NRC, Prateek Hajela, pointing to the difficulties being encountered due to the flood situation.
The bench also permitted the deletion of 1.5 lakh names that were included in the draft part NRC published in early 2017 but later on scrutiny were found to be ineligible to be included in the citizens register.
The names of the 64,000 doubtful voters and 4,500 foreigners will be kept on hold and their descendants will be identified.
Taking suo motu cognizance of the concern for the security of State Co-ordinator Hajela, the court ordered the Assam Chief Secretary and the Director General of Police to review his security and extend security cover to him and his family.
The court directed the next hearing of the matter on July 31.
Meanwhile, Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal has said names of all “genuine Indians” will be incorporated in the list of the state’s citizens.
Sonowal also ruled out any possibility of violence after the publication of the NRC saying adequate forces were deployed across the state to deal with any situation. “Names of all genuine Indian citizens will be included in the final draft. There should be no apprehension over it,” he said.
The chief minister said the state government has provided all assistance to the NRC authorities and people too have been extending full cooperation to the entire exercise, which is being undertaken under the direct supervision of the Supreme Court.
