CJI Ranjan Gogoi bench sets July 31 date for release of final NRC

The Supreme Court has set a deadline of July 31 for the release of the final National Register of Citizens (NRC) and asked the Assam government and the EC to ensure that the exercise doesn’t clash with the upcoming general elections.

“The NRC and elections must receive equal importance, proceed without affecting each other,” a bench led by the CJI Ranjan Gogoi said on Thursday.

The bench directed the NRC coordinator Prateek Hajela, the Assam government and the EC to sit and work out the staff requirement which would ensure that the NRC work continues unhindered despite the polls.


The CJI, sitting alongside Justice RF Nariman, asked the EC secretary, Assam chief secretary and Hajela to get back to the court on staff requisition within a week. The order came after Hajela said the NRC work would get disrupted by the polls and would extend the exercise beyond September.