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Kids Excluded From NRC Will Not Be Sent To Detention Camp If Parents Are In List: Centre To SC
7 Jan 2020 10:28 AM GMT
The Union Government on Monday, January 6 clarified in the Supreme Court that children who are excluded from Assam’s National Register of Citizens despite their parents included in the NRC list, for now, will not be sent to detention centres.
“I cannot conceive children being sent to detention centres and being separated from their families. Children whose parents have been granted citizenship will not be sent to detention centres,” said Attorney General of India KK Venugopal in front of a panel comprising of Chief Justice of India SA Bobde, and Justices Suryakant and BR Gavai.
The court was hearing an application filed on behalf of the 60 families where the parents were included in the NRC, but their children were not.
The court issued a notice to the Centre and the Assam government on the plea and gave them four weeks to reply.
“Mr KK Venugopal, learned Attorney General for India, states that the children of parents who have been given citizenship through NRC, will not be separated from their parents and sent to detention centre in Assam pending decision of this application,” the court recorded the assurance in its order.
The court also heard a petition asking for the removal of the NRC coordinator in Assam, Hitesh Dev Sarma, for his communal and anti-immigrant statements on social media platforms.
The court sought an explanation on the statements passed by Hitesh from the Assam government. Senior advocate Kapil Sibal submitted Sarma’s Facebook posts that allegedly contained anti-Muslim statements.
The court asked Sarma to either explain the statements or withdraw them. The Solicitor General of India, Tushar Mehta, said that since the NRC process in the state has been concluded, Sarma’s comment would not impact the process. The top court has given a deadline of four weeks to the Assam government to respond on the issue. Hitesh was appointed the NRC coordinator as replacement of former coordinator, Prateek Hajela.
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