Supreme Court asks Prateek Hajela to make power-point presentation

Staff Reporter

GUWAHATI: The Supreme Court of India has asked State NRC Coordinator Prateek Hajela to make a power-point presentation in the presence of the Attorney General and the Solicitor General of India to defend as to why he has been pleading before the court for dropping five NRC supporting documents for claims and objections.

The apex court bench comprising Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justice Rohinton Nariman heard the NRC case on Tuesday when Hajela pleaded before it that the five NRC supporting documents which he had kept aside for claims and objections should be dropped. The bench then directed Hajela to make a power-point presentation before the officials of the State in the presence of Attorney General KK Venugopal and Solicitor General Tushar Mehta. The bench also asked all stakeholders, including the Assam Government and the Government of India, to respond to Hajela’s plea before the court for dropping the five supporting NRC documents by October 30, 2018. The apex court is going to hear the case on November 1, 2018.

Meanwhile, AASU (All Assam Students’ Union) president Dipanko Kumar Nath said: “Hajela submitted two reports before the Supreme Court on Tuesday. Of the two reports, one has sensitive information and as such the court has refused to make it public. The court, however, has made it clear that it will give the stakeholders the other report for their response to it by October 30, 2018. The bench has asked Hajela to make the power-point presentation on October 26, 2018. The court has also appealed to the Centre and the Assam government to think for the country.”

The AASU and the APW, among others, are also respondents to the NRC case.