No person excluded from NRC to be detained till all legal remedies exhausted: MHA

The Centre on Monday said no person excluded from the final NRC list will be detained till he or she exhausts all legal remedies.

In a statement, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) also said the Assam government has made necessary arrangements to provide legal aid to the needy amongst those excluded from the final National Register of Citizens (NRC) through the district legal services authorities.

"Persons left out of final NRC not to be detained under any circumstance till they exhaust all remedies available under law," the statement said.

It added that such persons will continue to enjoy all rights as earlier, like any other citizen, e.g. right to employment, education and property, etc.

The MHA said adequate judicial process is available for the people left out to appeal to the Foreigners' Tribunals (FTs) within 120 days from August 31, when the final NRC was published.

To facilitate the appeals, 200 new FTs will be functional from Monday, in addition to 100 already existing, it said.

According to the final NRC released on Saturday, out of the total 3.3 crore applicants, 3.11 crore figured in the list and names of about19 lakh residents were excluded.

Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal had said last week the exclusion of someone's name from the final NRC does not amount to the person automatically becoming a foreigner as such a decision can be taken only by a foreigners' tribunal after following proper legal process.

"No one should be worried. No one should panic. Government is here to take care of everyone. Even those who will be excluded from the final list will get enough opportunity to prove their Indian citizenship," he had said.