New Delhi, July 21, 2026: The Supreme Court on Tuesday sought responses from the Centre, the Assam government and other respondents on a petition seeking the start of the appeals process for people left out of the final National Register of Citizens (NRC) published in Assam.
The petition, filed by the Assam State Jamiat Ulama, was heard by a Bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul M. Pancholi. During the hearing, the petitioner's counsel informed the court that people excluded from the NRC continue to face hardship as the appeal mechanism provided under the law has not yet been put into effect.
Appeals Still Awaited
The counsel argued that while there is a legal provision for appeals, no progress has been made in starting the process. He also informed the Bench that another petition raising a similar issue is already pending before the apex court.
Taking note of the submissions, the Bench issued notices to the respondents and tagged the petition with the pending matter. The court has sought replies from the Centre, the Assam government and the office of the state coordinator, PTI reported.
NRC Exercise Remains Incomplete
The final updated NRC was published on August 31, 2019, to identify bona fide Indian citizens in Assam. More than 19 lakh applicants were left out of the final list, while 3.11 crore people were included.
According to the NRC State Coordinator's office, 3,30,27,661 people had applied for inclusion in the register. Of these, 3,11,21,004 were included, while 19,06,657 were excluded from the final NRC.
Petition Seeks Identity Cards
In its petition, the Assam State Jamiat Ulama has also sought directions to the authorities to immediately issue national identity cards to all those whose names appear in the final NRC. The plea cited Section 14A of the Citizenship Act, 1955, read with Rule 13 of the Citizenship Rules, 2003.
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The organisation has further requested the Supreme Court to direct the authorities to begin the appeals process for those excluded from the final NRC.
The petition underscores that while the NRC exercise was completed years ago, the absence of an operational appeals mechanism has left many awaiting the next legal step, making the issue central to the ongoing proceedings before the apex court.
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