The Supreme Court on Friday ordered the transfer of Assam National Register of Citizens (NRC) coordinator Prateek Hajela to Madhya Pradesh for the maximum period. He is the one who led the process of updating NRC in Assam.
As per reports, the decision was taken due to security reasons. Ranjan Gogoi, Chief Justice of India (CJI), did not specify the reason, why they are transferring NRC Coordinator Hajela to Madhya Pradesh. The government has been directed to notify his transfer within seven days.
He further added any order can be passed without any specific reason. However, he did not mention the reason leading to speculation that Hajela possibly received a threat to his life.
At the hearing, Attorney General KK Venugopal asked Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi if there was a genuine reason for the transfer. Hajela had submitted a confidential report to the Supreme Court in which he is believed to have sought the transfer away from Assam.
Right from when NRC started Hajela had seen the finalization and publication of Assam.
Supreme Court-appointed the NRC coordinator Hajela, he is from the 1995 batch IAS officer of Assam-Meghalaya cadre. He was present in the thick of things while navigating the choppy political waters of the state that was cleaved among communal and linguistic lines over the sensitive issue of NRC.
Prateek Hajela was tasked with the supervision of the NRC in Assam. The final list of NRC was published on August 31 where 19 lakh people were excluded.