Overview
- The court issued notice to the Union government, the Assam government, the Census Commissioner, the Registrar General of Citizen Registration, and the State NRC Coordinator.
- The petitions by Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind and the All Assam Minorities Students’ Union ask for National Identity Cards for about 3.11 crore people included in the 2019 Final NRC.
- They also seek rejection orders and the start of appeals for roughly 19 lakh residents excluded from the NRC to enable adjudication before Foreigners’ Tribunals.
- A bench of Justices P.S. Narasimha and A.S. Chandurkar questioned the petitioners’ choice of forum and suggested approaching the High Court before nonetheless issuing notice.
- Senior advocates Kapil Sibal and Indira Jaising argued that citizens identified in the NRC have a right to identity cards under Article 32, with the court now awaiting responses from the authorities.