SC seeks ECI's response on names included in voters' list but excluded from Assam NRC

The Supreme Court on Tuesday asked the Election Commission of India (ECI) to clarify about the action that will be taken with regard to the names of the persons reflecting in the electoral roll but not in the Assam National Register for Citizens (NRC) to be published on July 31.

A bench headed by Justice Ranjan Gogoi has also asked the EC to furnish details by March 28 about the addition and deletion of names in the electoral roll between January 1, 2018, and January 1, 2019.

The EC Secretary, appearing before the bench, told the apex court that the Commission has not deleted any names from the voters' list on the basis of the draft NRC.

The court was hearing a plea contending that lakhs of voters in Assam could be deprived of voting in the ensuing General Elections because of uncertainty arising out of the finalization of the NRC.

The apex court had last week summoned the Election Commission Secretary and asked him to be present on March 12 to respond to its queries.

One Gopal Seth had approached the apex court arguing that there are many categories of the people who faced uncertainty over their right to vote in the General Elections.

There are people in the state whose names appeared in the draft NRC and had voted in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections but their names were deleted from the voters' list, the plea said.

There is another category of the people who had voted in the last General Elections but their names were not included in the draft NRC and had filed claims for inclusion, the petitioner said.

There are also persons whose names were not included in the draft NRC but the names of their family members are included in the NRC and they had filed claims for inclusion, the petitioner further added.