The Supreme Court today(August 10) directed the Union Government and the State of Assam to file replies in a batch of petitions concerning the issuance of National Register of Citizens (NRC) Identity Cards to persons included in the National Register of Citizens (NRC) list published in August 2019.

The petitions have been filed by Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind, the All Assam Minority Students' Union (AAMSU), and the Assam Sankhyalaghu Sangram Parishad, respectively.

Before a bench comprising Justice PS Narasimha and Justice Alok Aradhe, Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal(for Jamiat) submitted that notice has been issued but the Union and State are yet to file a reply. Sibal also requested that he may be allowed to file a rejoinder to the reply filed by the Registrar General of India.

An interlocutory application was mentioned by Senior Advocate Manish Goswami regarding a petition filed by Hitesh Dev Sarma, ex-NRC Coordinator. He stated that the prayers are diametrically opposite to the prayers raised in the present petitions and sought that the matter be tagged along with the other two petitions. Sarma's plea seeks re-certification/re-verification of the NRC list on the ground that it has several inaccuracies.

After briefly hearing Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati(for the Union), the Court directed that Sarma's petition may be tagged and heard after the replies have been filed.

The petitioners have mainly sought that despite the publication of NRC list in 2019, the authorities have failed to take the mandatory steps under the law, which is the issuance of National Identity Cards to the 3.11 crore citizens found eligible, as required under Rule 13 of the Citizenship (Registration of Citizens and Issue of National Identity Cards) Rules, 2003; and issuance of rejection slips and initiation of appeals under Paragraph 8 of the Schedule to Rule 4A of the said Rules for the 19 lakh persons excluded from the NRC.'The petitioners argue that the failure to take these steps has rendered the final NRC an incomplete exercise — unconstitutional, arbitrary, and violative of Articles 14 and 21 of the Constitution.

Case Details: ALL ASSAM MINORITIES STUDENTS UNION (AAMSU) W.P.(C) No. 839/2026 Diary No. 40481 / 2026|ASSAM STATE JAMIAT ULAMA Vs UNION OF INDIA Versus UNION OF INDIA AND ORS|W.P.(C) No. 1030/2025| W.P.(C) No. 1026/2025 Diary No. 55648 / 2025 JAMIAT ULAMA-I-HIND Vs UNION OF INDIA|

Appearances: Senior Advocates Mr. Kapil Sibal, Mr. Salman Khurshid and Mr. Sanjay R. Hegde, along with Mr. M.R. Shamshad, Advocate, appeared in the connected proceedings.