Role Of Judiciary In NRC Process Has Been Retrograde : Prashant Bhushan [Video]

LIVELAW NEWS NETWORK

27 Sep 2019 8:53 AM GMT

  • The role of judiciary in the process of preparation of National Register of Citizens for Assam has been retrograde, said Advocate and civil rights activist Prashant Bhushan. The Supreme Court had struck down the Illegal Migrants Determination by Tribunal Act on the ground that placing the burden of proving citizenship on the state will lead to "external aggression". "This is absurd",...

    The role of judiciary in the process of preparation of National Register of Citizens for Assam has been retrograde, said Advocate and civil rights activist Prashant Bhushan. 

    The Supreme Court had struck down the Illegal Migrants Determination by Tribunal Act on the ground that placing the burden of proving citizenship on the state will lead to "external aggression". 

    "This is absurd", said Bhushan. This has resulted in people being asked to prove citizenship on the basis of government documents before government servants.

    "This has led to deprivation of citizenship to millions of citizens in Assam", he said.

    The NRC has caused much confusion and despair. The process has been arbitrary and some times communal. The manner in which Foreigners Tribunals have been functioning is 'pathetic' and 'arbitrary', without proper understanding of law and principles of natural justice, Bhushan said.

    Bhushan was speaking to Live Law during the 'Peoples Tribunal on Citizenship in Assam', held in New Delhi on September 7.

    Extending the NRC to the whole country will lead to misery to millions of people.  Citizenship rights cannot be left at the hands of government servants who at times function in an arbitrary and corrupt manner, he added.

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