🗞️ Why in News The Registrar General of India (RGI) has told the Supreme Court, in an affidavit reported on 4 October 2026, that the process of issuing rejection slips to the 19.07 lakh people excluded from Assam’s National Register of Citizens (NRC) “has not been started yet”, because the final NRC released on 31 August 2019 is still not formally notified. The State NRC Coordinator is still building a “security regime” for the data, so it has not been handed to the RGI. The Court deferred the matter to 6 November.
What the Affidavit Says
| Point | Detail |
|---|---|
| Who filed | The Registrar General of India, who is also the Registrar General of Citizen Registration under the Citizenship Rules |
| The block | The RGI can notify the final NRC only after receiving the data; the State Coordinator has not shared it because “enactment of the security regime for NRC data” is in progress |
| Rejection slips | Not begun; the State Coordinator told the RGI in October 2020 that slips could be issued only after the RGI notifies the final NRC |
| The petitions | Filed by the Assam State Jamiat Ulama, the All Assam Minority Students’ Union, Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind and others, seeking rejection slips for the excluded and NRC cards for the included |
| Next step | Assam government to file its response; hearing on 6 November 2026 |
The Numbers
| Final NRC, 31 August 2019 | |
|---|---|
| Applicants | about 3.3 crore |
| Included | 3,11,21,004 (3.11 crore) |
| Excluded | 19,06,657 (19.07 lakh) |
A rejection slip states the reason for exclusion. It is the document an excluded person needs to appeal to a Foreigners Tribunal; without it, no appeal can be filed, and the excluded remain in limbo, neither declared foreigners nor confirmed citizens. Those excluded retain voting rights and other entitlements until a Tribunal rules.
The Legal Framework
| Instrument | What it does |
|---|---|
| Citizenship Act, 1955, Section 14A | Compulsory registration of every citizen and issue of national identity cards; the RGI acts as the National Registration Authority |
| Section 6A (inserted by the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 1985, after the Assam Accord of 15 August 1985) | Persons of Indian origin who entered Assam before 1 January 1966 are citizens; those who entered between 1 January 1966 and 24 March 1971 get citizenship after ten years without voting rights; those after 25 March 1971 are foreigners |
| Citizenship (Registration of Citizens and Issue of National Identity Cards) Rules, 2003, Rule 4A and its Schedule | Assam’s NRC update differs from the rest of India: residents prove descent from persons in the 1951 NRC or in electoral rolls up to 24 March 1971 (“legacy data”) plus linkage documents |
| Schedule to the Citizenship Rules, 2003, paragraph 8 (amended by the Home Ministry in August 2019) | A person excluded from the final NRC may appeal to a Foreigners Tribunal, constituted under the Foreigners (Tribunals) Order, 1964, within 120 days of receiving the rejection order (raised from 60 days); the State sanctioned 200 more Tribunals for the purpose |
| Supreme Court monitoring | The update ran under the Court’s supervision from 2013, latterly by a Bench led by Justice (later Chief Justice) Ranjan Gogoi, in Assam Public Works v Union of India; the State Coordinator Prateek Hajela was later transferred |
Section 6A upheld (background). On 17 October 2024, a five-judge Constitution Bench led by Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud upheld Section 6A by 4:1 (Justice J.B. Pardiwala dissenting on grounds of “temporal unreasonableness”). The majority treated 25 March 1971 as a reasonable cut-off tied to the Bangladesh war, and directed that detection and deportation of post-1971 entrants be monitored by the Court.
Why Seven Years of Limbo
1. Nobody owns the list. The Assam government and the ruling party have asked for re-verification of a sample of entries, arguing the list wrongly excluded genuine citizens and included others; the State Coordinator sought re-verification in 2020-21 in the Supreme Court. The RGI has not notified a list the State itself disputes.
2. The data handover. The affidavit frames the delay as a technical one about securing data. But the sequence (security regime, then handover, then notification, then slips, then appeals) means the appeals that the Court guaranteed in 2019 have not begun.
3. Rights without status. The excluded cannot appeal, cannot be declared foreigners, and face uncertainty in jobs, land and benefits; many have died or migrated in the interim. Detention centres and “declared foreigner” cases run on a separate track through the Tribunals and the Border Police.
4. A national register, or only Assam’s? Section 14A permits a national NRC; the Union told Parliament in 2021 that no decision had been taken on a nationwide exercise. Assam remains the only State with an updated register, and even that is unfinished.
UPSC Relevance
GS Paper 2. Citizenship; the Supreme Court’s monitoring jurisdiction; Centre-State coordination; rights of the stateless. GS Paper 3. Border management and illegal migration.
A question worth preparing. Seven years after the final NRC in Assam was released, it is neither notified nor appealable. Examine the legal framework governing the register and the consequences of the delay for the rule of law. (250 words)
The Mains framing. Explain Section 6A and the Assam Accord cut-off, Rule 4A of the 2003 Rules, the Foreigners Tribunal appeal and the 120-day window; set out the 2019 figures; analyse the deadlock (re-verification demand, data security, RGI notification); cite the 2024 judgment; propose time-bound notification, legal aid for appellants, and Tribunal reform.
📌 Facts Corner, Knowledgepedia
Prelims, statement-ready facts:
- Final NRC of Assam: 31 August 2019; 3.11 crore included, 19.07 lakh (19,06,657) excluded; still not notified by the Registrar General of India as of October 2026.
- A rejection slip is needed to appeal to a Foreigners Tribunal within 120 days (Schedule to the Citizenship Rules, 2003, para 8, amended August 2019).
- Assam’s NRC update is governed by Rule 4A and the Schedule of the Citizenship Rules, 2003 (Registration of Citizens and Issue of National Identity Cards).
- Legacy data for Assam’s NRC: the 1951 NRC and electoral rolls up to 24 March 1971.
- Section 6A, Citizenship Act (Assam Accord, 1985): cut-offs 1 January 1966 and 25 March 1971; upheld 4:1 on 17 October 2024 (Justice Pardiwala dissenting).
- Section 14A (added 2004) empowers compulsory registration of citizens and a national register; the RGI is the Registrar General of Citizen Registration.
Prelims, the traps:
- The NRC was released (31 August 2019) but never notified; the two are different legal acts.
- Exclusion from the NRC does not make a person a foreigner; only a Foreigners Tribunal can declare that.
Mains, arguments and keywords:
- Statelessness in limbo; due process; re-verification demand; Section 6A and temporal reasonableness; Tribunal capacity; data security versus rights.
Interview, be ready for:
- “Should the NRC be extended nationwide?” Assam’s experience shows the costs: seven years and a list that is still not notified; fix the process before expanding it.
Sources: The Hindu (PTI), 4 October 2026, Deccan Herald (PTI), LiveLaw, final NRC press release, 2019, Supreme Court Observer, Section 6A
Source: Assam NRC Rejection Slips: Final Register Unnotified Since 2019 — Ujiyari.com | Free UPSC & State PCS Current Affairs
