Supreme Court Directs Centre, State to Transfer NRC Coordinator Prateek Hajela

* Speculation is rife that State NRC Coordinator possibly received a threat to his life

* Apex Court, however, did not cite any reason for transfer

STAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI: The Supreme Court on Friday ordered an inter-cadre transfer of State NRC Coordinator Prateek Hajela to Madhya Pradesh on deputation.

A bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi directed the Centre and Assam Government to notify Hajela’s transfer within seven days.

“Upon hearing Mr. Prateek Hajela, learned State Coordinator, the learned Attorney General, the learned Solicitor General and taking into account the totality of the facts of the case, we order for the inter-cadre transfer of Mr. Hajela to the State of Madhya Pradesh for maximum period permissible under the relevant rules/regulations,” the SC bench ordered. Besides Chief Justice Gogoi, the SC bench comprised Justice S.A. Bobde and Justice Rohinton Fali Nariman.

Attorney General (AG) K.K. Venugopal asked the SC bench whether there was any reason or cause that led to the transfer of Hajela from Assam to Madhya Pradesh on deputation. “Can any order be passed without cause or reason,” CJI Gogoi asserted while responding to AG’s query.

Since the Apex Court did not cite any reason there are now speculations and reports that Hajela, who completed the mammoth task of completing the NRC update and published the final NRC, possibly received a threat to his life. Hajela, as the Supreme Court-mandated coordinator of NRC update, was involved in the exercise since 2013.

The SC order came during a hearing of a writ petition on the final NRC, filed by Assam Public Work (APW), an NGO. The court fixed November 26 as the next date of hearing of the petition. Chief Justice Gogoi will retire on November 17.

Friday’s order of SC has generated mixed reactions in the State. The All Assam Students’ Union (AASU) has welcomed the court order and accused Hajela of not updating the NRC as per the directives of the SC.

“Prateek Hajela did not take the re-verification exercise of NRC seriously for which many indigenous people of Assam and genuine Indian citizens were excluded from the final NRC. We have already expressed our grievances and views in our writ petition filed in the SC on September 28,” AASU chief advisor Dr Samujjal Bhattacharjya said. The AASU hoped that the government will appoint an efficient official as the next State NRC coordinator.

APW chief Abhijit Sharma, while expressing surprise over the SC order, said the government should give a rethink on the SC order before drafting Hajela’s transfer order. He alleged that Hajela was responsible for the inclusion of names of Bangladeshis in the NRC and exclusion of names of indigenous people from it.

“He (Hajela) should have been jailed instead of being transferred,” Sharma said. He said the APW will file a writ petition in the SC on the latest development.

Assam BJP president Ranjeet Kumar Dass said the Centre and State Government should appeal in the SC against the transfer order of Prateek Hajela.

On another hand, official sources said the State Government was completely in dark to know any hint before the SC passed the order of transfer of Hajela on Friday. “We will have to follow the SC order and appoint a new State NRC Coordinator,” a senior State Government official said.

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