NRC information cannot be shared with any authority: minister

Information on the updation of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) cannot be shared with any authority including the executive, legislative and the judiciary without the permission of the Supreme Court, the Assam Assembly was informed on Monday.

Replying to a question of Ramendra Narayan Kalita of the BJP on the how many illegal foreigners were detected and their names deleted from the NRC, Assam Accord Implementation Minister Chandra Mohan Patowary said no information on this could be shared following a Supreme Court order on September 19 last year.

The apex court had on that day cautioned Assam NRC coordinator Prateek Hajela against sharing any information with any authority including "the legislature, the executive and the judiciary without prior leave of the court".

The claims and objection exercise is underway after the publication of the Complete Draft of the NRC on July 30, 2018, the minister said.

For various expenditures to be incurred during the NRC updation exercise, Patowary said the central government has so far released Rs 1,243.53 crore.

Assam, which had faced influx of people from Bangladesh since the early 20th century, is the only state having an NRC which was first prepared in 1951.

To another query, he said 1,17,164 illegal foreigners were identified by various Foreigners Tribunals across the state till March 31 this year.

Between 1985 and June 30, 2019, Patowary said, 29,855 declared foreigners were deported.