Aadhaar to doubtful citizens of Assam: SC grants AG 2 weeks to seek instructions

The Supreme Court on Thursday granted two weeks to the Attorney General to seek instructions on a PIL filed by Rajya Sabha MP Sushmita Dev seeking issuance of Aadhaar cards to nearly 27 lakh people listed as doubtful citizens in the National Register of Citizens (NRC) of Assam.

The final NRC was published in August 2019 and about 19 lakh applicants, many of them said to be genuine citizens, were claimed to have been left out of the list.

A bench comprising Chief Justice Uday Umesh Lalit and Justice Bela M Trivedi accepted the request of Attorney General R Venkataramani for time to seek instructions.

"The AG is granted two weeks' time to seek appropriate instructions in the matter. He may put in a note so that issues can be resolved on the next date," the bench said.

The top court will now hear the matter on November 9, 2022.

Senior advocate Biswajit Deb, appearing for the TMC lawmaker, submitted all those whose names figured in the first NRC list had received their Aadhaar cards.

The top court had on April 11 this year issued notices to the Centre, Assam government, the Registrar General of India, and the Unique Identification Authority of India, which is entrusted with the task of issuing Aadhaar, on Dev's plea.

She has filed the PIL seeking a direction to issue Aadhaar cards to nearly 27 lakh people listed as doubtful citizens in the NRC.