The Supreme Court on Monday issued notice in a writ petition filed by Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind and the All Assam Minorities Students’ Union (AAMSU), seeking completion of the long-pending steps in the Assam National Register of Citizens (NRC) process, which they alleged is violating Articles 14 and 21 of the Constitution, Live Law reported.
The petitioners have argued that despite the publication of the Final NRC on August 31, 2019, the statutory procedures that must follow have remained stalled for over six years.
The petition seeks two key directions, including the issuance of National Identity Cards to the 3.11 crore people included in the final NRC, as required under Rule 13 of the Citizenship (Registration of Citizens and Issue of National Identity Cards) Rules, 2003; and issuance of rejection slips so that the roughly 19 lakh excluded individuals can begin the appeals process before Foreigners’ Tribunals under Paragraph 8 of the Schedule to Rule 4A.
According to the petitioners, the government’s failure to take these mandatory steps has rendered the Final NRC an “incomplete” and “arbitrary” exercise, violating Articles 14 and 21 of the Constitution.
A bench of Justices P.S. Narasimha and A.S. Chandurkar heard arguments from Senior Advocates Kapil Sibal and Indira Jaising. Jaising submitted that every citizen has a fundamental right to a national identity card confirming their citizenship status after the NRC process.
She stressed that the petition does not question anyone’s inclusion or exclusion from the NRC, only the non-implementation of the final stage. “The exercise is complete. The only step left is issuance of the identity card,” she said.
Justice Narasimha questioned the petitioners’ decision to approach the Supreme Court directly under Article 32, suggesting that the High Court may be the appropriate forum for seeking compliance with statutory procedures. “What you are asking is a follow-up of the statute and the judgment… there are more reasons to go to the High Court under Article 226,” he observed.
Jaising argued that the matter warranted the Supreme Court’s intervention because the NRC process had been monitored by the Court itself for five years, and the remaining step affected fundamental rights.
“Having completed 99.9 percent of the exercise, only 1 percent remains. We have a fundamental right to have our citizenship declared,” she said.
Sibal noted that the authorities had been “silent for six years” and had neither issued identity cards nor allowed excluded persons to file appeals.
The bench, however, maintained that the process was “closest to the parent” jurisdiction where the NRC exercise was undertaken. After hearing the parties, the Court issued notice to the Union of India, the Government of Assam, the Census Commissioner, and the State NRC Coordinator.
The National Register of Citizens (NRC) is an official register maintained by the Government of India that lists the names of individuals identified as Indian citizens.
Around seven lakh Muslims were among the 19 lakh people excluded from Assam’s 2019 NRC list, a process that many critics say unfolded within a wider anti-Muslim climate marked by lynchings, media vilification, and political threats in states across India.
The 2019 publication triggered widespread protests, suicides among the excluded, and fears of statelessness. It intersected with the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), 2019, which fast-tracks citizenship for non-Muslim migrants from select countries but excludes Muslims, amplifying concerns of religious discrimination.
The BJP-led governments in Assam and at the Centre have cited “irregularities” as reasons for delay, pushing for reverification, a move rejected by the Supreme Court in 2019. Meanwhile, the excluded face restrictions on jobs, education, and welfare, with around 1,000 detention camps built but underused.
On the other hand, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma in June asserted that suspected “illegal immigrants” could be deported to Bangladesh even if their names appear in the National Register of Citizens (NRC).
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