New Delhi: The Central Government today informed the Supreme Court that it is considering taking biometric details of all those who were excluded in the NRC draft numbering around 40 lakh people. This step, according to the government, is to avoid their influx to other states on a false identity.

A bench of Supreme Court Judges Ranjan Gogoi and RF Nariman was told by the Attorney General KK Venugopal, appearing for Centre, that some of those states which include West Bengal, have developed fears that people whose name was not found in the second and final draft NRC, will eventually migrate to other states.

“To allay the fear of states, the government is contemplating to collect biometric data of over 40 lakh people, so that if declared foreigners escapes to another state under a false identity then they may be tracked by authorities concerned,” Mr Venugopal said.

The bench, after hearing it, said that the government is at free will to do whatever it wants and the court will examine it.

“You do whatever you like. At this moment, we would not like to comment. You do it, then we will examine it. Our silence is not a symbol of agreement nor assurance,” the bench said.

The Supreme Court said that there will be no coercive action against more than 40 lakh persons, who were excluded from the draft National Register of Citizens (NRC) for Assam, as it was merely a draft.

It inquired from the Centre to formulate modalities and Standard Operating Procedures which includes timelines for deciding the claims and objections coming up out of the publication of the draft NRC.

The bench directed the Centre to submit the modalities and SOPs before it to get approval within the date of August 16.

During the final time of the hearing, an association of transgenders requested the bench to give a second chance for 20,000 transgenders to fill NRC forms.

The bench said, “You missed the bus. We cannot re-open the entire exercise now”.

The court replied to them that it would hear all interlocutory applications on the date of August 16, which is the next date of hearing over the main issue.

The second and final draft of the NRC, which is also a list of the state’s citizens, was recently published yesterday with more than 2.89 crore names out of 3.29 crore applicants in Assam. Names of about 40.07 lakh applicants was not found in the document.

The first draft of the NRC for Assam was published as per the top court’s direction in December end. And then it was published on the intervening night of December 31 and January 1 where names of 1.9 crore people out of the 3.29 crore applicants were incorporated.

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