'NRC Published In August 2019 Is Final': Declares Assam Foreigners' Tribunal

The National Register of Citizens (NRC) published on August 31, 2019 is the "Final NRC", ruled a Foreigners'' Tribunal (FT) in Assam

New Delhi: The National Register of Citizens (NRC) published on August 31, 2019 is the "Final NRC", delared a Foreigners' Tribunal (FT) in Assam, even as the Registrar General of India is yet to notify it.

Declaring a man Indian citizen, the tribunal in Karimganj district held that though National Identity Cards are yet to be issued, "but there is no doubt that this NRC Assam published in 2019 is nothing but Final NRC", reported PTI.

According to a PTI report, Sishir Dey, the member of FT-II in Karimganj while hearing a case against one Bikram Singha of Jamirala village, whose name figured in the NRC list, said, “…there is no doubt that this NRC Assam published in 2019 is nothing but Final NRC.”

The Foreigners’ Tribunals, set up by the Ministry of Home Affairs in 1964, are bodies that adjudicate citizenship in Assam.

FTs are the last recourse for the lakhs of people whose names were dropped from the National Register of Citizens (NRC), the final list of which was published on August 31, 2019.

What is Bikram Singha's case?

According to a report by PTI, the Border wing of Assam Police filed a case against Bikram Singha, a resident Jamirala village in the Patherkandi police station area of the district. Singha was marked as a ‘doubtful voter’ and a case was registered first under the Illegal Migrant (Determination by the Tribunal) Act in 1999.

The case was shifted to FT-I of Karimganj in 2007 after the IM(D)T Act was struck down by the Supreme Court in 2005, and was finally transferred to FT-II in 2017

Singha remained untraced for months and finally appeared before the Foreigners’ Tribunal-II (FT-II) in Karimganj.

To prove his citizenship, Singha produced a number of documents before the Foreigners Tribunal-II.

The documents included a 1968 land deed in the name of his grandfather Madan Kumar Singha and proof of his father Bharat Chandra Singha, an Indian Air Force employee for 29 years since 1972.

FT-II member Dey heard the case of Singha on September 1.

In its ''final order and opinion'' issued on September 10, the tribunal said the appearance of Singha's name in the "Final NRC" establishes his relationship with other members of the family, "though not necessarily and lawfully establishes his citizenship due to pendency of his case" before the FT.

Maintaining that the pendency of the case before the tribunal might not be traced by the NRC authority, it said "his inclusion of name in Final NRC may be validated only is this reference case is answered in his favour".

"The names of other persons of his family in Final NRC may be conclusive proof of their Indian citizenship," it said, ruling in his favour.

Addressing the issue of whether the NRC has "attained finality or not" as raised by the government advocate, the tribunal said the NRC was prepared as per provisions of the Citizenship Act, 1955, and the Citizenship (Registration of Citizens and Issue of National Identity Cards) Rules, 2003, and on the directions of the Supreme Court.

The process of updating the NRC had begun in 2015 and the final list was published on August 31, 2019, with the names of 3.11 crore people. Over 19 lakh applicants were left out of it. The Registrar General of India is yet to notify it.

Arguing against consideration of Singha's name in the NRC as valid evidence, the government advocate said that a person who had a case pending before any Foreigners'' Tribunal was not eligible for inclusion in the ''Final NRC'' as per the approved standard operating procedure of the authority.