Politics · India Bureau
Centre yet to issue rejection notices to 1.9 million NRC exclusions
Nearly five years after the National Register of Citizens was published in Assam, the central government has not begun issuing formal rejection slips to those left out, the Supreme Court was told. The delay has prevented excluded individuals from pursuing appeals before foreigners' tribunals.
LSN India ·
The central government informed the Supreme Court that it has not yet commenced issuing rejection notices to approximately 1.9 million people excluded from the National Register of Citizens published in 2019, according to submissions made during court proceedings.
Those dropped from the NRC require formal rejection documentation to file appeals before designated tribunals for foreigners, a key procedural step in challenging their exclusion. The absence of these notices has effectively stalled the remedy process for millions of individuals, leaving their cases in legal limbo.
The delay in issuing rejection slips represents a significant administrative gap nearly five years after the NRC publication. Without formal notice of exclusion, affected individuals cannot initiate tribunal proceedings to contest their status or provide additional documentation to support their claims.
The Supreme Court's intervention came after petitioners highlighted the protracted administrative delay affecting those excluded from the register. The government's admission regarding the non-issuance of rejection notices underscores the procedural bottleneck preventing lakhs of people from accessing the tribunal appeal mechanism established for NRC disputes.
The case highlights persistent implementation challenges in processing NRC-related matters and raises questions about the timeline for completing the administrative steps necessary for excluded individuals to seek legal recourse.