New Delhi: The centre on Friday appealed the Supreme Court to extend the deadline of the NRC final list from 31st July to a further date. The government stated that completing the NRC within the previously framed deadline of 31 July will not be possible and it will need some more time to tweak the processes for inclusion of names in the list.
Speaking on behalf of the government, the central government’s second most senior law officer Tushar Mehra told the Apex court that more time will be needed to eliminate the names of the illegal immigrants from the NRC list. He has also added that the list is yet to be completed with many illegal immigrants name to be cut from it and to include the names of many citizens whose names are left out in the list.
While putting up the points in favour of extending the NRC final list date, the law officer made a statement that is worth pondering over for the top court of the country. Mehra said, “India cannot be the refugee capital of the world.”
The Solicitor general further added that there is still the need for a massive re-verification exercise which will have to be carried out 20 percent districts of Assam that lies in the bordering areas of Bangladesh. Notably, it is Bangladesh from which the largest proportion of illegal immigrants has come to India and the process still continues.
Mehra further added that many of the inclusions and exclusions made in the NRC list are wrong. The quantum of people involved would be in lakhs and hence, this would require more time for the process of re-verification.
The final verdict on the extension of the final date has not been made by the Supreme Court. It has, however, heard the request made by national register of citizens Assam’s coordinator Prateek Hajela as well. The hearing on the matter will be continued by the judges on Tuesday too.