Give fair chance to people not included in NRC: Supreme Court

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday asked the NRC Coordinator to provide a fair chance to those who have challenged the non-inclusion of their names in the National Register of Citizen (NRC) in Assam.

A bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi told Coordinator Prateek Hajela: "Don't cut short the process just because you have to meet the deadline of July 31."

The court said: "There are media reports how claims and objections are being dealt by the officials involved in the NRC. And the media is not always wrong. They are right sometime. Please make sure there are no loopholes in the process and it is done properly."

The court queried the Coordinator on the apparent possible exclusion of an ex-soldier from the NRC and called it a disturbing incident. Hajela was asked to decide the matters through a fair process and build no short cuts into the NRC process.

The top court reiterated that the July 31 deadline for the publication of final Assam NRC draft was non-negotiable and it should not be met at the expense of those who have filed claims for inclusion of their names in the NRC.

"They should be given procedural chance to present their case," the court said.