The Union government assured the Supreme Court on Monday that children not included in the National Registry of Citizens (NRC) in the state of Assam will not be separated from their parents who have been included in the list.
This assurance was provided by Attorney General KK Venugopal and Solicitor General Tushar Mehta.
The assurance came when the top court heard a petition related to the NRC in Assam in which the petitioner sought to bring to the attention of the court the fact that 60 children who were not included in the National Registry of Citizens (NRC) were being separated from their parents who are included in the list and being sent to the detention centres.
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A bench headed by Justices BR Gavai and Surya Kant also forbid the state from sending children to the detention centres.
In another matter related to the NRC, the court lashed out at the Assam state government and sought a response from it over allegations that the state coordinator for NRC, Hitesh Dev Sarma was making communal statements.
Chief Justice SA Bobde remarked, “he should not be saying all this. You (Assam government) have to explain this. Whatever you want. He should not be saying all this,” when senior advocate Kapil Sibal raised this matter in a petition related to the removal of the state coordinator.
The Supreme Court also issued notices to the Union Government and the Assam state government over various issues related to the NRC and sought their response within four weeks.