The State Coordinator of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) has warned members of Assam’s Foreigners’ Tribunals (FTs) not to rely on the draught NRC and its supplementary list for case resolution.
A Foreigners’ Tribunal is a quasi-judicial tribunal charged with determining the citizenship status of those accused of being or identified as foreigners. A Foreigners’ Tribunals member is comparable to a judge.
Foreigners’ Tribunal sent letters to members on April 18
The State Coordinator, Hitesh Dev Sarma, sent letters to FT members on April 18. “Things may change when the final NRC is published,” he added, “because the Registrar General of Citizens Registration (RGCR) has not proclaimed NRC as final and there are flaws.”
About 19.06 lakh candidates were left out of the final NRC draught, which was released on August 31, 2019.
On May 10, an anonymous FT member responded to Mr Sarma’s letter, stating that the NRC was final and published in accordance with multiple Supreme Court rulings and judgments, as well as a notification by the RGCR.
Clause 7 of the Citizenship Rules of 2003, as well as a press statement issued by former State Coordinator Prateek Hajela on August 31, 2019, “made it apparent that the published NRC is the definitive NRC.”
The NRC lists (draught, additional draught, and supplementary list) are also included as final NRC on the official website, according to the member. The FT member said that saying the “final NRC published under the supervision of the Supreme Court and notice of RGCR” was not final contradicted the accessible records and directives of the top court.
The member advised the State Coordinator to “withdraw his letter and stop interfering in the lawful functioning of the Foreigners’ Tribunals, which is beyond your jurisdiction and limits of power,” adding that he “cannot propagate his wrong understanding of law, rules, notifications, and orders of the Supreme Court.”
Mr. Sarma stated that he had yet to receive the letter
“Only the RGI and Hajela are authorised to publish the final NRC, which has yet to be done.” The Supreme Court ordered Hajela to make the extra list of inclusions and exclusions public, rather than the final NRC. Mr. Sarma told The Hindu on Sunday that some FT members have been passing judgments declaring the NRC to be final.
An FT member in southern Assam’s Karimganj district declared a skeptic migrant as Indian in September 2021, noting that members of his family were included in the “final NRC.”