The Centre on Monday told the Supreme Court that children, whose parents have been given citizenship through the National Register of Citizens (NRC), will not be separated from their families and sent to the detention centres in Assam.
Attorney General KK Venugopal and Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Centre and the Assam government clarified in the top court after a petition stated that around 60 children have been excluded from the NRC but their parents have been granted citizenship through National Register of Citizens.
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The Supreme Court bench headed by Chief Justice SA Bobde and comprising justices BR Gavai and Surya Kant also said in its order that children whose parents have been granted citizenship through NRC will not be sent to detention centres.
The apex court also issued notice to Centre and Assam on a plea alleging children being sent to detention centres after NRC.
The final National Register of Citizens list in Assam was published on August 31, 2019, including names of 3.1 crore people and leaving out 19 lakh names.
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court also sought an explanation from the Assam government over the allegation that the state coordinator for NRC was making communal statements.
“He should not be saying all this. You (Assam government) have to explain this. Whatever you want. He should not be saying all this,” a bench headed by Chief Justice S A Bobde observed after senior advocate Kapil Sibal drew the attention to the alleged statement made by the state NRC coordinator.
