3.11 crore in NRC await ID cards; Supreme Court seeks Centre, Assam replies

The Supreme Court on Monday sought responses from the Union government and the State of Assam on petitions demanding the issuance of national identity cards to all persons whose names appear in the National Register of Citizens (NRC) published in August 2019. A Bench of Justices P.S. Narasimha and Alok Aradhe issued notices on the pleas filed by the Jamiat Ulema-i-Hind, the All Assam Minority Students’ Union (AAMSU), and the Assam Sankhyalaghu Sangram Parishad, among others.

Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal, representing the Jamiat, informed the court that neither the Central nor the state government had responded despite earlier notice. Senior Advocate Manish Goswami, appearing for former NRC coordinator Hitesh Dev Sarma, sought a re-verification of the NRC list, claiming that it contained several inaccuracies. The court did not pass any interim order and listed the matter for further hearing after the replies are filed.

The petitions state that over 3.11 crore persons included in the NRC have not received their identity cards, while approximately 19 lakh people were excluded from the final list. The appeal process for those excluded has not yet commenced, leaving them in a state of uncertainty. According to the petitioners, the NRC exercise—which involved significant judicial time and an expenditure of more than ₹1,600 crore—has reached a standstill.

The legal framework cited in the petitions includes Section 14A of the Citizenship Act, 1955, read with Rule 13 of the Citizenship (Registration of Citizens and Issue of National Identity Cards) Rules, 2003, which mandates the issuance of national identity cards to included persons. For excluded persons, Clause 8 of the Schedule to the 2003 Rules provides an appeal mechanism. The petitioners argue that these follow-up steps have not been undertaken, causing prejudice to those whose names are in the NRC and leaving them vulnerable to arbitrary treatment.

The petitioners also underscore that the question of citizenship is central to Assam, given the state’s socio-political history—from the Assam Movement (1979-1985) and the Assam Accord to the insertion of Section 6A of the Citizenship Act in 1985 and the enactment of the 2003 Rules with a specific Schedule in 2009. The publication of the NRC was intended to be a watershed moment in resolving the decades-old citizenship and migration issue in the state.

The NRC, updated under Supreme Court monitoring, was published on August 31, 2019, and included 3.11 crore of the 3.3 crore applicants. The exercise was meant to identify Indian citizens in Assam, which has faced migration concerns for decades. The petitions argue that without the issuance of identity cards to the included and the initiation of appeals for the excluded, the process remains incomplete, affecting millions of lives in the state.

The Supreme Court’s decision to seek responses indicates that the matter will now be examined by the governments, which are expected to clarify their positions on the implementation of the NRC’s follow-up measures. The case continues to be closely watched, as it has significant implications for citizenship documentation and legal clarity in Assam.