The Supreme Court on Monday extended its June 30 deadline for publication of the final draft of National Register of Citizens (NRC) for Assam by a month.
The leeway given by a Bench led by Justice Ranjan Gogoi came after the government and the State Coordinator agreed to adhere to the new deadline.
State NRC coordinator Prateek Hajela had last week said it would not be possible to release the final draft of the NRC as scheduled on June 30 due to the floods in the State. The NRC is being prepared to identify illegal migrants in Assam.
The Bench asked the State Chief Secretary and DGP to immediately provide adequate security to Mr. Hajela and his family members, including his children, in view of the work done by him. It asked them to file a compliance report immediately after taking a decision on the issue.
The apex court said it will consider all the interlocutory applications and other related matters on July 31.
Akhil Gogoi, leader of the Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti said: “The delay is because the BJP and RSS do not want the final draft to be published for loss of face. Flood was a mere excuse on the part of (NRC Coordinator) Prateek Hajela to delay the exercise at the bidding of BJP and RSS. The flood had affected only three districts. They could have published the data for the rest of the State.”
Matiur Rahman, working president of the Assam Sanmilita Mahasangh said: “The delay is because of a ploy to include illegal migrants. This is all the more reason why 1951 should be made the cut-off year for inclusion in NRC.”
(With inputs from Rahul Karmakar)
