'Withholding NRC rejection orders violates fundamental rights'

Writ petition filed in HC seeking stay on mandatory requirement of Aadhaar card for availing government schemes, financial transactions

STAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI: A writ petition has been filed in Gauhati High Court seeking directions for issuance of rejection orders for inclusion in the National Register of Citizens, Assam (NRC) so that the petitioners can avail their statutory right to appeal against exclusion from the NRC.

The writ petition filed by Sanjoy Dey and others (petitioners), has also sought for a stay on the mandatory requirement of Aadhar card for availing any welfare government schemes. This is because they have not been issued any Aadhar card. The biometric data of the petitioners had been taken during the hearing of their application for inclusion in the NRC.

The petitioners, who claim to be citizens of India, had submitted their application, along with their family members, on August 27, 2015 for inclusion of their names in the NRC. However, the names of none of the family members, five in total, including the petitioners were included in the complete draft NRC published on July 30, 2018 even though they had submitted valid documents as prescribed. They filed their claim application on December 5, 2018 and even attended the hearing. But their names were also excluded from the NRC published on August 31, 2019.

In the writ petition, the petitioners claimed that withholding of the NRC rejection orders violates their fundamental rights guaranteed under the Constitution. Even after two years and five months, the authorities have not yet issued the rejection orders to the petitioners. The petitioners claimed that they had been arbitrarily denied their statutory right to appeal against exclusion from NRC. Their citizenship status has been kept under a cloud of doubt for an indefinite period.

The petitioners further stated that there were around 1 lakh doubtful voters whose cases are pending in Foreigners Tribunals. The petitioners expressed the apprehension that voting rights of the persons excluded from NRC may be withheld by the Election Commission of India as their citizenship has been placed under doubt by the NRC process. They are also unable to get their Aadhaar cards. Consequently, they are unable to link their Aadhaar number with PAN, and are being denied various services.

The writ petition stated that the petitioners are being deprived from availing various government welfare schemes as Aadhaar cards are required to avail the same. The petitioners can only be given their Aadhaar cards after their biometrics information taken during NRC process are unlocked, which can be done after the conclusion of the process to determine their citizenship in the appeal proceeding before the Foreigners Tribunals. By filing the writ petition, the petitioners have sought for a stay on the mandatory requirement of Aadhaar cards for any financial transactions, benefits and entitlements under welfare schemes and other government purposes in respect of the petitioners till disposal of the petition.

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