GUWAHATI: City-based NGO, Assam Public Works, will file an affidavit in Supreme Court on July 1 seeking information whether the report on 10 per cent re-verification of names included in the draft National Register of Citizens has been submitted by the NRC state coordinator.
The apex court had during a hearing in August last year, directed the NRC state coordinator to submit a report in regard to the 10 per cent sample re-verification across 22 districts of Assam.
The court had also asked for a possible timeframe when such an exercise could begin if ordered by it and the timeframe within which the same could be completed.
“However, despite being the chief petitioner (APW), we still do not know whether the state coordinator has submitted the report in accordance with the apex court’s orders. Therefore, we will file another affidavit on July 1, seeking status of the report and progress made thereafter,” APW president, Aabhijeet Sharma said while addressing mediapersons here on Monday.
APW had filed an affidavit in the apex court last year seeking re-verification of names enlisted in draft NRC in 22 districts of the state in the wake of anomalies during the NRC update process and possible inclusion of names of suspected illegal migrants in the final draft in 22 districts.
Sharma further said that APW had no knowledge about those persons included in the NRC draft who have allegedly “bought” legacy data.
“The NRC state coordinator had admitted in court that legacy data were being bought and sold during the update process. So, this is something which concerns us as doubtful foreigners might find their names in the NRC,” he said
The NGO has demanded that the Registrar General of India and the NRC state coordinator promise to ensure publication of an “error-free” NRC and in this regard take resort to publicity campaigns in various forms of media.
“We also want the chief minister of Assam to intervene and tell the state coordinator to move ahead with the process as directed by the Supreme Court,” Sharma said.
The Supreme Court has set a deadline of July 31, 2019, for publication of the final NRC.
It is pertinent to note that APW had filed a writ petition in Supreme Court in 2009 seeking deletion of names of nearly 41 lakh foreigners from the voter list of Assam, which led to the apex court monitoring the NRC update.
“Besides, the state coordinator has also not given us the district-wise soft copy of the DMIT (District Magistrates Investigation Team) report which we sought in November last year. The DMIT report would give us information about the person, family history and more importantly the application receipt number (ARN), on the basis of which objections against suspected foreigners can be filed,” he said.
The NGO said that it will also move a petition in Supreme Court in July seeking stringent action against people with more than two children. “We will seek action such as barring such people from voting or availing government benefits besides other penalties,” he said.