National Register of Citizens: No extra time, government told

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Thursday refused to extend the deadline to complete the National Register of Citizens ( NRC) in Assam, rejecting also the government’s argument that it was encroaching upon a function in the executive’s domain.

Under the deadline set by the court, the government has to publish the draft NRC by December 31, seeking objections from the public. But it sought time till July 31, 2018 to complete the task. The top court is monitoring the process of updating the document meant to identify the original residents of the north-eastern state and check illegal migration.

A bench of Justices Ranjan Gogoi and RF Nariman rejected the request on the ground that it would only encourage the executive to seek further extensions. “You will again come then and say please extend the deadline further,” Justice Nariman observed. Attorney General KK Venugopal did not rule out the need for a further extension beyond July 31. “If required, further time will be sought,” he said.

The court said it was the “sheer inaction on the part of the executive in dragging the matter for a period of over three years” in the absence of any justifiable cause to hold back even a partial publication of the document.

This has led the court to direct publication of the draft NRC on or before 31st Dec, 2017, it said. The court also pulled up the government for slow progress in fencing of Indo-Bangladesh border. “What we are asking you is to protect the country … protect India and what you are doing is stopping the progress even in border fencing,” Justice Gogoi said during the hearing.

“Should we leave the fate of this country to your governance? When we interfere, you talk about separation of power … encroachment into the executive domain,” he observed. Venugopal, who earlier sought more time for NRC, changed tack to argue that the judiciary was encroaching into the executive domain when his plea was rejected. The court cannot fix the deadline for the NRC as it was purely an executive function, he said.

The AG also expressed the fear that part publication of the draft NRC could result in a law and order situation as a large segment of the people could think that their names were excluded from it. The court rejected the AG’s argument on judicial overreach.