Assam: Court summons former NRC coordinator Prateek Hajela on November 17

STAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI: The Additional District and Sessions Judge of Kamrup (Metro) issued summons to former National Register of Citizens (NRC) coordinator Prateek Hajela in a criminal revision case filed by Guwahati-based applicant Luit Kumar Barman.

Hajela and two other parties, Wipro Limited and Integrated System and Services (ISS), have been ordered to appear in the court of the Additional District and Sessions Judge in the city at 10.30 a.m. on November 17, 2023, to file objections, if any.

The applicant had filed the criminal revision case under Section 397 CrPC, read with Section 399 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973.

The court’s notice stated, “On your failure to appear before the court, the case will be heard ex parte in accordance with the law.”

The same warning has also been given to Wipro Limited and ISS, the companies engaged in the updating process of the NRC in the state.

Barman alleged that Hajela had allocated the tasks of software development and the supply of data entry operators to information technology major Wipro Limited without the usual procedure of inviting tenders. There were also allegations of underpayment to the data operators engaged in data entry work by the NRC.

There have been allegations of financial wrongdoing by the former NRC coordinator.

The Assam government had also registered a case with the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption earlier. The decision to file the suo moto case came on the heels of a report by the Comptroller and Accountant General of India (CAG), at a time when Hajela, an IAS officer, had applied for voluntary retirement under VRS. It should be mentioned here that Hajela was sent on deputation to Madhya Pradesh for three years on the basis of a Supreme Court order.

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