Apex court raps NRC officials You could be jailed, Hajela & Sailesh warned

Justice Ranjan Gogoi

TT, New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday slammed Assam's NRC coordinator Prateek Hajela and Registrar General of India Sailesh and warned them of action if they spoke to the media again on the ongoing update of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Assam without its permission.

A bench of Justices Ranjan Gogoi and R.F. Nariman held a special hearing on Tuesday to warn the two officials that they would have been sent to jail but for the unfinished NRC exercise.

Questioning the authority of the officials, the bench reprimanded them and restrained them from going to the media on the NRC issue.

The bench pulled up the officials for their wide-ranging interviews, particularly in Indian Express where the two officials have gone on record saying that those whose names did not figure in the draft NRC would get an opportunity in the final NRC, subject to production of "any valid documents".

"How are you concerned with the question? Who are you to say? Your job is only to carry out the draft NRC," Justice Nariman told Hajela and Sailesh during the hearing.

The bench said that it had asked the Centre to formulate standard operating procedures to deal with the claims and objections of those who have been left out in the draft NRC and accused the officials of making statements on modalities.

Justice Gogoi, who headed the bench, said, "We should be holding both of you guilty of contempt and sending both of you to jail."

The two officials then tendered their apologies, assuring that they would not repeat their mistakes.

"It is most unfortunate on your part. Please don't do this in the future. You have a lot of work to do. Your job is for the NRC, your job is not going to the press or holding the brief for anybody," the court said.

Justice Gogoi said the manner in which the two officials have been speaking to the media is "highly improper."

Later, the bench dictated a written order saying it could have taken a serious view of the matter but considering that preparation for the final NRC was under way, "we refrain" from further course of action in the matter.

"Mr Hajela and the Registrar General of India have to be cautious in future and devote their time...to preparation of the NRC. Both the officers will not make any statement in the press with regard to the NRC without appropriate orders from this court," the bench said. It later posted the matter for further hearing on August 16.

The Supreme Court at the last hearing had told the Centre not to take any punitive action against the 40.07 lakh people whose names have been excluded from the draft National Register of Citizens while directing the government to frame modalities before August 16 to deal with the claims and objections of the NRC update exercise.

"What has been published is only a draft NRC...this being a draft NRC it cannot be the basis of any action by any authority," the bench had told Attorney-General K.K. Venugopal, who submitted before the court that no coercive action would be taken against persons who do not feature in the draft NRC.

It said the publication of the final NRC should be finalised in respect of exclusions and inclusions only after the court vets the modalities. "How do you propose to do the standard operating procedure? It has to be fair. Each person who has to file a challenge or objection to the rejection has to be given a fair opportunity," Justice Gogoi said. "If it is not a fair procedure, we will correct it."