Assam NRC authority seeks re-verification of citizens’ list

Interlocutory application before the Supreme Court highlights major irregularity in the process of updating the NRC of 1951

The Assam National Register of Citizens (NRC) authority has approached the Supreme Court seeking a comprehensive and time-bound re-verification of the citizens’ list, highlighting “major irregularities” in the process. The interlocutory application by State NRC Coordinator Hitesh Dev Sarma also prays for the deletion of illegal voters from Assam’s electoral rolls besides the revision of the draft NRC and a supplementary list under a relevant clause of the Schedule of Citizenship (Registration of Citizens and Issue of National Identity Cards) Rules, 2003. The notification for starting the Supreme Court-monitored exercise to update the 1951 NRC in Assam was issued in December 2013. The final draft published in August 2019 had excluded 19.06 lakh out of 3.3 crore applications for lack of adequate documents establishing them as Indian citizens.