The Supreme Court on Monday sought the response of the Centre and the Assam government on a plea to issue identity cards to persons whose names are included in the Final National Register of Citizens (NRC) prepared in August 2019.
The order came on separate petitions filed by the All Assam Minorities Students Union (AAMSU) and Jamiat Ulama–i-Hind, seeking directions to the Centre and the Registrar General and Census Commissioner to complete the process of the NRC in Assam by taking the statutory steps that remain pending since the publication of the Final NRC on August 31, 2019.
The bench of justices PS Narasimha and AS Chandurkar also issued notice to the NRC Coordinator on the two petitions.
The petitions filed by advocate Fuzail Ahmad Ayyubi pointed out that despite the passage of 6 years since the publication of NRC, the authorities have not complied with the statutory duties to issue the National Identity Cards to those whose names are enumerated in the final list. The petitioners pointed out that this is mandatory under Rule 13 of the Citizenship (Registration of Citizens and Issue of National Identity Cards) Rules, 2003. They further submitted that under the Rules, even the rejection slips must be issued to the persons excluded from NRC to enable them pursue appeals before the concerned authorities.
More than 30 million persons were included in NRC while about 1.9 million were not found eligible for their inability to provide the necessary documents.
Senior advocates Kapil Sibal and Indira Jaising appeared for the two petitioners and informed the court that getting the identity card is a fundamental right which must be enforced by the court.
“I have a fundamental right under Article 32 of the Constitution to receive a citizenship identity card since I have been declared as a citizen,” Jaising said, adding that the failure to issue cards is unconstitutional, arbitrary, and violative of Articles 14 and 21 of the Constitution.
The court was initially hesitant to entertain the plea and asked the petitioners to approach the high court.
Sibal pointed out that it was the Supreme Court which had monitored the finalisation of NRC in Assam from 2013 till its final publication in 2019 by calling for reports from the NRC Coordinator.
The bench told Sibal, “This is the reason we are asking you to go to the high court. What you are asking for is a follow-up of the statute and the judgment by this court. All the more reason that you must go to the high court under Article 226 and not Article 32.”
The Final NRC, published jointly by the Registrar General of India and the State Coordinator was the result of years of meticulous verification, cross-checking of legacy data, and scrutiny of over 30 million applications, to bring a lawful resolution to the decades-old question of citizenship in Assam.
The Jamiat in its petition said that the issue of illegal immigration in Assam can only be lawfully and conclusively addressed by completing the NRC process in accordance with the statutory framework. Leaving the NRC suspended after its final publication has resulted in creation of a large population of “uncertain citizens” and prolonged a climate of suspicion, fear, and social division, it said.
The petitions urged the court that a lot of judicial time and national resources exceeding ₹1,600 crores has gone into preparation of NRC that requires the process to be taken to its logical conclusion.
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