New Delhi, May 30: Two days after a retired Army officer in Assam was declared a foreign national, the Supreme Court on Thursday asked the NRC Coordinator not to cut short the process and ensure fair hearing to those who have challenged the non-inclusion of their names in the National Register of Citizen (NRC) in Assam. The apex court asked NRC Coordinator Prateek Hajela not to rush through the process in an attempt to meet the deadline of July 31.

"Don't cut short the process just because you have to meet the deadline of July 31," a bench headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Ranjan Gogoi told Prateek Hajela. In an apparent reference to retired officer Mohammed Sana Ullah's exclusion from NRC, the top court said: "There are media reports how claims and objections are being dealt by the officials involved in the NRC. And the media is not always wrong. They are right sometimes. Please make sure there are no loopholes in the process and it is done properly." Bulk NRC Complaints Filed in Cyclostyled Manner to Harass People: Congress.

While the Supreme Court refused to change the last date for the publication of final Assam NRC draft, it made clear that the deadline should not be met at the expense of those who have filed claims for inclusion of their names in the NRC. "They should be given procedural chance to present their case," the court said. Narendra Modi-Led NDA Victory Paves Way For Rajya Sabha Majority in 2020; Triple Talaq, NRC to Get Green Signal.

Sana Ullah, a resident of Guwahati, was detained from his house in Satgaon by the police on Tuesday after the Tribunal at Boko passed the order declaring him as a foreigner and sent him to a detention camp. NRC is a register containing names of Indian citizens, which was prepared for the only time in 1951 and is being updated for only Assam to weed out the illegal immigrants mainly from neighbouring Bangladesh.

The Assam government had in 2018 published a draft NRC which excluded the names of over 40 lakh people due to some discrepancies in their documents to prove their citizenship. The Supreme Court had directed that no coercive action should be taken against persons on the basis of this Draft NRC.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on May 30, 2019 04:03 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).