12, Dec 2018 | CJP Team

In a welcome breather for Indian citizens in Assam, the Supreme Court has granted a deadline extension for filing applications under the Claims and Objections process. The Supreme Court had previously set December 15 as the deadline, but now it has extended it to December 31, 2018. The SC bench comprising Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Rohinton Nariman has also extended the date for starting the process of verification of claims from February 1 to February 15.

The new deadline gives more time to people who did not find their names in the final draft of the National Register of Citizens (NRC), to file their claim applications. 40,07,707 people had failed to find their names when the final draft was released in July 2018. According to the NRC authority only 14.28 lakh claims and objections have been filed so far. This means over 2.5 million of the original 4 million plus people left out of the NRC final draft released in July 2018, would face an uncertain future with their citizenship under the scanner!

Over four million people have been left out of the NRC draft, most of them from socio-economically backward communities. Now CJP, drawing from its previous experience in providing legal aid in Gujarat, will step in with a  multi-faceted team of lawyers and volunteers to ensure that these people receive a fair chance while filing claims across 18 of the worst affected districts. Your contribution can help cover the costs of a legal team, travel, documentation and technological expenses. Please donate generously here.

Earlier this week, the state of Assam had approached the Supreme Court asking for an extension as an overwhelming majority of the people who had been left out of the July 2018 draft had been unable to file their claims. They said that this was because many of these people were illiterate and found it difficult to fill and file forms within the stipulated period. Also, people were busy with the Panchayat elections across Assam.

Another reason behind the need for more time was the inclusion of five important documents for claim application by the Supreme Court. The NRC state coordinator had previously advocated that these documents be dropped from the list of the original 15 eligible documents. But the SC included them directing the authority to ensure proper procedures were followed during document verification.

The entire Supreme Court order may be read here:

After the order was passed, the NRC State Coordinator issued the following notice informing DRCRs about the deadline extension and urging them to comply with the new order.

Related:

CJP Impact: 10,000 Claim forms filled in just 40 hours in Assam!

CJP in Action: Our Attempt to avert a Humanitarian Crisis in Assam

Impossible deadline for filing NRC Claim forms threatens future of 32 lakh people!

Some Claims and Objections SOPs vague: Scope for Corruption?