The Supreme Court on Thursday gave time till Dec 15 for people to file claims and objections for inclusion of names in the draft Nation Register of Citizens (NRC) in Assam.

A bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi also allowed claimants for Assam NRC to rely on five documents which were earlier objected to by state NRC coordinator Prateek Hajela. These five documents are: NRC of 1951, voter list of 1966, voter list of 1971, refugee registration certificate till 1971 and ration card issued till 1971. Hajela had in his first report raised objections about these documents. Many stakeholders, including Assam government, had demanded inclusion of all 15 documents in their affidavits. Until now, 10 legacy documents could be used for inclusion and exclusion in the draft NRC, which should have been issued by various authorities and corporations since midnight of March 24, 1971.

The top court also fixed timeline for issuance of notice as January 15 to claimants and verification of documents as February 1.

When the draft NRC report was published on July 30, nearly 40 lakh people found themselves excluded from the list and were given an option to file fresh claims. The NRC will include the names of all Indian citizens who have been residing in Assam before March 25, 1971.

—India Legal Bureau