Ex-NRC Coordinator Moves Supreme Court Seeking Reverification Of Assam NRC; Says Large-Scale Errors Occurred

A writ petition before the Supreme Court seeks a complete, comprehensive and time-bound reverification of the draft and supplementary National Register of Citizens (NRC) for Assam under Clause 4(3) of the Schedule to the Citizenship (Registration of Citizens and Issue of National Identity Cards) Rules, 2003.

“since the preparation of a correct and error free NRC is an issue integral to national security and is being closely monitored by this Hon'ble Court, the writ petitioner deems it necessary to apprise this Hon'ble Court certain omission and commission that has occurred during the updation of NRC for its kind consideration and possible remedial action as deemed fit and proper by this Hon'ble Court in the facts and circumstances of the case”, the plea states.

A bench of Justice Pamidighantam Sri Narasimha and Justice Atul S. Chandurkar yesterday issued notice in the plea.

The petitioner, a retired IAS Officer Hitesh Dev Sarma, states that he has filed the petition in his personal capacity as well as on behalf of a large section of indigenous people of Assam.

The plea seeks enforcement of fundamental rights under Articles 14, 19, 21, 25 and 29, alleging that large-scale errors occurred during the updation of NRC, leading to wrongful inclusion and exclusion of names. The plea states that preparation of a correct and error-free NRC as integral to national security.

The petitioner states that he earlier served as Executive Director, NRC, Assam from May 2014 to February 2017, and later as State NRC Coordinator from December 24, 2019, until his retirement in July 2022. He claims to have been directly involved in formulating verification procedures.

The complete draft NRC was published on July 30, 2018, and the supplementary list on August 31, 2019, the final NRC is yet to be published by the Registrar General of India. The petition refers to various reports, official communications and findings of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) highlighting anomalies in the process.

The petition cites several grounds:

Exclusion of eligible persons: Of 40,07,719 persons excluded from the draft NRC, about 3,93,975 did not file claims, the petition states, contending that approximately 50,695 of them appeared eligible for inclusion.

Incorrect marking of Originally Inhabitants (OI): The plea states that the Deputy Commissioner of Kamrup district reported on June 28, 2019, that 64,247 applicants were marked as OI in Chamaria Circle, but sample verification revealed 14,183 of them were not eligible. Special verification of 30,791 persons resulted in 7,446 being found ineligible, including declared foreigners, descendants of foreigners, doubtful voters and persons with pending cases before Foreigners Tribunals.

Absence of speaking orders: As per the petition, out of 5,06,140 decisions of Disposing Officers (DOs) during claims and objections, only 4,148 were reviewed through speaking orders. Names of 43,642 persons were changed from 'reject' to 'accept' and 4,62,498 from 'accept' to 'reject' without hearings or speaking orders, the petition states.

Flaws in Family Tree Matching: The petition states that a sample check indicated that 943 names were wrongly entered into the draft NRC due to errors in Family Tree Matching, suggesting a high error rate and lack of proper quality control.

Financial irregularities: The petition highlights that the CAG report for the year ending March 31, 2020, flagged irregularities of more than ₹260 crore and recommended fixing responsibility on the then State Coordinator.

The petition further refers to letters issued by the State Coordinator, NRC, Assam; reports of verification teams; communications from IT vendor Bohniman Systems Pvt. Ltd.; and findings of a cyber security consultant regarding safeguards for NRC data.

The plea prays for a complete, comprehensive and time-bound reverification of the draft NRC and supplementary list, citing serious omissions and commissions in the updation process that, according to the petitioner, may affect the integrity of the final NRC.

Senior Advocate Manish Goswami and Advocate Rameshwar Prasad Goyal (AOR) represent the petitioner.

Case no. – W.P.(C) No. 740/2025

Case Title – Hitesh Dev Sarma v. Union of India