CJI Gogoi defends NRC update exercise

TT & PTI, 4 November 2019, New Delhi: Chief Justice of India (CJI) Ranjan Gogoi on Sunday strongly defended the current exercise of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Assam, saying prior to it there was "guesswork" on the number of illegal immigrants in the state.

Justice Gogoi was addressing a gathering here during inauguration of the book, Post Colonial Assam (1947-2019), by veteran journalist Mrinal Talukdar.

Justice Gogoi, who is heading an apex court bench monitoring the NRC update process in Assam, was also critical of "armchair commentators" who, he said, are far away from the ground reality and present a highly distorted picture because of which Assam and its development agenda have taken a hit.

The CJI, who hails from Assam, said, "The NRC is not a new nor a novel idea. It founds expression as early as in the year 1951 and in particular context of Assam in year 1985 when the Assam accord was signed. In fact, the current NRC is an attempt to update the 1951 NRCHe said prior to this exercise, there was an enormous amount of guesswork regarding the number of illegal immigrants.

He lamented that "careless" and "irresponsible reporting by a few media outlets only worsened the situation".

"There is an urgent need to ascertain the number of illegal immigrants which the current exercise envisages. The entire exercise is nothing but manifestation of one of the most peaceful means by which stakeholders seeks to remedy the wrong and omissions of that turbulence whose effects changed the course of the life of not only individuals but of communities and culture across the region," he said.

The CJI praised the citizens of Assam for displaying great magnanimity and large heartedness in accepting various cut-off dates for the purpose of preparation of NRC.

The updated final NRC in Assam was released on August 31 this year excluding names of over 19 lakh applicants in the state.

A total of 3,30,27,661 people had applied to be included in the NRC. Of them, 3,11,21,004 have been included in the document and 19,06,657 excluded. The names of 1.9 crore people were published as part of the draft NRC on the midnight of December 31, 2017.

The CJI said, "It needs to be told and brought on record that people who raised objections, including these cut-off dates are playing with fire. We need to keep in mind that our national discourse has witnessed the emergence of armchair commentators who are not only far removed from ground realities but also seek to present a highly distorted picture Justice Gogoi said people must resist the urge of "finding wrongs and shortcomings everywhere" they look and the "constant desire to play to the gallery by demeaning the institutions and their efforts must be resolutely avoided and discouraged".

Regarding the NRC exercise, he said, "It is an occasion to put things in proper perspective. The NRC is not a document for the moment. It is a base document for the future. This in my comprehension is intrinsic value of the NRCBesides the CJI, Supreme Court Judge Hrishikesh Roy was also present during the function, along with 1975- batch IPS officer A.B. Mathur who was last year appointed by the Centre as an interlocutor to hold talks with Ulfa and other groups in the Northeast.

Justice Roy praised Talukdar for his efforts in writing the book and said several historical aspects about Assam have come to light through his work. The top court judge also quipped that he believed that if the CJI decides to write a book, it would be a "best seller".

Mathur noted that he is at present holding talks with three groups in Assam and one in Manipur and talks are progressing very satisfactorily. He said the people of the Northeast want peace. PTI.