People Excluded From NRC 'Not Stateless', Will Enjoy All Rights Till They Exhaust Legal Remedies: MEA

"For those who are not in the final National Register of Citizen (NRC) list will not be detained and will continue to enjoy all the rights as before till they have exhausted all the remedies available under the law," MEA spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said.

MEA spokesperson Raveesh Kumar. AFP

New Delhi: The Ministry of External Affairs on Sunday asserted that exclusion from the National Register of Citizens (NRC) has no implication on the rights of an individual resident in Assam and that any decision taken during NRC implementation will be within Indian law.  In a statement, Raveesh Kumar, official spokesperson of the MEA, said that the NRC is a non-discriminatory process and that it leaves no room for bias. “For those who are not in the final NRC List will not be detained and will continue to enjoy all the rights as before till they have exhausted all the remedies available under the law. It does not make the excluded person stateless," Kumar said. For those who are not in the final National Register of Citizen (NRC) list will not be detained and will continue to enjoy all the rights as before till they have exhausted all the remedies available under the law, he added. State of Assam has assured provision of free legal assistance to any person excluded from the NRC list and who is unable to afford such legal help. It is to enable people, especially disadvantaged sections, to have access to best possible legal assistance, he said. “Anyone excluded from the list at this stage has a right to file an appeal within 120 days of receiving a notification of exclusion to the designated Tribunal.  All appeals and excluded cases will be examined by this Tribunal i.e. a judicial process. This judicial process will commence only after the appellate period is over. Thereafter, anyone still aggrieved by any decision of being excluded will have the right to approach the High Court of Assam and then the Supreme Court”, he stated. In his statement, Kumar said that Supreme Court of India mandated the government to deliver on the commitment in 2013. This led to the process of updating the National Register of Citizens in Assam in 2015.Updating of NRC is a statutory, transparent,legal process mandated by the Supreme Court. “This is not an executive-driven process. The process is being monitored by SC directly and the government is acting in accordance with the directives issued by the court. The Apex court of the land has itself set the deadlines for all steps that have been taken so far,” he said. Referring to recent foreign media reports on NRC, Kumar said, “there have been some commentaries in the sections of the foreign media about aspects of final NRC which are incorrect. Govt of India signed the Assam Accord in 1985 with a promise to take care the interest of the citizen of Assam.” “NRC aims to give effect to the Assam Accord signed in 1985 between the Government of India, State Government of Assam, the All Assam Students Union (AASU) and All Assam Gan Sangram Parishad (AAGSP)”, he said.