Overview
- Jamiat Ulama‑i‑Hind and AAMSU petitioned for National Identity Cards for the 3.11 crore people included in Assam’s Final NRC under the 2003 Citizenship Rules.
- They also sought rejection slips and activation of appeals before Foreigners’ Tribunals for roughly 19 lakh residents excluded from the 2019 list.
- A bench of Justices P.S. Narasimha and A.S. Chandurkar issued notices seeking responses from the Union government, the Assam government, the Census Commissioner, the Registrar General and the State NRC Coordinator.
- The bench questioned the petitioners’ locus and suggested the matter may be moved before the concerned High Court under Article 226 rather than the Supreme Court under Article 32.
- Senior advocates Kapil Sibal and Indira Jaising maintained that the Supreme Court previously oversaw the NRC exercise and that only the final statutory steps remain, with prolonged inaction creating uncertainty despite significant public expenditure.