Assam Public Works (APW), an NGO, has moved the Supreme Court seeking 100 per cent re-verification of names included in the final draft of the National Register of Citizens (NRC), following the arrest of two officials engaged in the update for demanding a bribe for including a woman’s name.

A source in the apex court said the NGO had submitted an affidavit stating that 100 per cent re-verification was essential in order to eliminate any possibility of including names in the NRC through illegal means.

In its affidavit, the APW mentioned the arrest of Syed Shahjahan, a field-level officer of an NRC Seva Kendra at Ganesghuri here, and Rahul Parasar, an assistant local registrar of citizen registration, by the vigilance and anti-corruption bureau on June 13 for demanding a bribe from a woman for including her name in the final NRC.

The accused duo had allegedly demanded Rs 10,000 from Kajari Ghosh Dutta, a resident of Ananda Nagar here.

“Incidents like these clearly show that on the ground, monetary transactions are still going on for entering names in the NRC. Multiple incidents like this have already been pointed out in our earlier affidavits,” the latest affidavit filed by APW said.

“The process (100 per cent re-verification) may take some more time, but being the petitioner organisation, we strongly feel that 100 per cent re-verification of the names included in the final draft NRC would serve the ends of justice,” it said.

Rahul Parasar, an NRC employee who was arrested on bribery charges on June 13. Picture by UB Photos

The 1951 NRC is being updated in Assam under the guidance and supervision of the Supreme Court to identify illegal migrants. The apex court has set July 31 deadline for publication of the updated NRC.

The APW had filed a writ petition in the court in 2009 seeking deletion of names of around 41 lakh foreigners from the voter list of Assam, which led the apex court to monitor the NRC update.

The APW had submitted two memoranda on August 24, 2018, and on March 17 this year praying for 10 per cent sample re-verification of the names included in final draft of the NRC in 22 districts — Dhubri, Kokrajhar, Chirang, South Salmara-Mankachar, Goalpara, Bongaigaon, Barpeta, Nalbari, Kamrup, Kamrup (metro), Darrang, Udalguri, Sonitpur, Lakhimpur, Dhemaji, Morigaon, Nagaon, Hojai, Golaghat, Cachar, Karimganj and Hailakandi.

The NGO said it had come to its notice that a large number of anomalies occurred during the NRC update process and as a result names of suspected illegal migrants were included in the final draft in these 22 districts.

In its affidavit, the APW also said that the superintendents of police were also functioning as superintendents of special branch and border branch in the districts, which was creating problems in detection and apprehension of foreigners.

It sought separate superintendents of police (border) for every district to expedite the process of detection and apprehension of foreigners and to ensure better coordination with the foreigners tribunals and the district administrations.