Breaking: Supreme Court issues notice to Centre in petition to update NRC, fence Bangladesh-Tripura border

In a major development, the Supreme Court today issued notice to the Central government and the Election Commission of India in a petition by Tripura People’s Front seeking that the National Register of Citizens (NRC) be updated with respect to the State of Tripura..A Bench of Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and KM Mathew heard Senior Counsel KN Choudhury and advocate Manish Goswami before issuing notice to the Central government and the Election Commission. The matter was tagged with the similar case pertaining to Assam which the Court is already seized of..In the petition, it has been claimed that while setting up of NRC goes as far back as 1951, the need for updating the NRC in Tripura is pressing. The petition claims that the situation of influx of illegal immigrants from Bangladesh is worse in Tripura than in Assam.“The exercise in Assam was necessitated due to the persistent illegal influx problem that has plagued the state for over three decades now. The petitioners respectfully submit that Tripura is worse placed. The uncontrolled influx of illegal migrants from Bangladesh to Tripura has caused huge demographic changes in Tripura which earlier was a predominantly tribal state but now has become a non-tribal state.”The petitioners have submitted that it is very necessary to update NRC in Tripura in order to identify illegal immigrants, delete them from voters lists, and subsequently deport them from India to restore the “socio-economic, socio-cultural and socio-political equilibrium of Tripura.”The petitioners have prayed for the Court to direct the concerned authorities to update the NRC with respect to the State of Tripura.Additionally, the petitioners have also prayed for Foreigners Tribunals to be set up and for appropriate steps to be taken to deport illegal immigrants. Further, the petitioners have sought fencing of Tripura-Bangladesh border with increased patrolling to prevent the inflow of illegal immigrants into Indian Territory.