District Magistrates Can Refer To Tribunals Names Of NRC-Excluded People Not Seeking Redressal 

District magistrates in Assam have been empowered to refer names of people excluded from the recently-published final National Register of Citizens and who prefer not to seek any redressal to foreigners’ tribunals to decide whether to declare them foreigners, the Home Ministry has said.

As many 300 tribunals have been set up in Assam where people whose names were excluded from the final NRC can approach to establish their Indian citizenship.

“In case no appeal is preferred under paragraph (8) of the Schedule appended to the Citizenship (Registration of Citizens and issue of National Identity Cards) Rules, 2003, the District Magistrate may refer to the Tribunal for its opinion the question as to whether the person is a foreigner or not within the meaning of The Foreigners Act, 1946 (31 of 1946) in terms of sub-paragraph (1) of paragraph 2,” a home ministry notification said.

Of the 300 tribunals, 200 new came into existence on Monday while 100 have been functioning for long. According to the final NRC released on Saturday, out of a total 3.3 crore applicants, 3.11 crore figured in the list and names of about 19 lakh residents were excluded.

“The final order of the tribunal shall contain its opinion on the matter whether the appellant is eligible for inclusion in the NRC or not and it shall also contain the opinion of the tribunal as to whether the appellant, if his appeal is rejected, is a foreigner or not within the meaning of the Foreigners Act, 1946,” the notification said.

“The final order of the tribunal shall be a concise statement of facts and conclusion based on which the tribunal has arrived at its decision,” the notification said.

The ministry has already said adequate judicial process is available for the people left out to appeal to the foreigners' tribunals within 120 days from Aug. 31, when the final NRC was published.