Assam NRC: Children excluded from NRC won't be sent to detention centres for now, AG tells Supreme Court

Attorney General for India KK Venugopal today assured the Supreme Court that children who have been excluded from the National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Assam, but whose parents have been granted citizenship under the same, shall not be sent to detention centres.

An application filed in the Apex Court claimed that a certain number of children whose parents have been granted citizenship under the NRC have themselves been left out of the same. There was an apprehension that these children would be sent to detention centres, as result of this discrepancy.

Today, Venugopal told the Bench of Chief Justice of India SA Bobde and Justices BR Gavai and Surya Kant that these families will not be separated. Submitting an undertaking to the Court, Venugopal said,

"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."

The Court proceeded to issue notice to the Union of India and the State of Assam on this plea and sought a reply within four weeks.

In a separate application filed in relation to the Assam NRC, Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal, representing an NGO, told the Court that the new State Co-ordinator has made several anti immigration posts on social media. These Facebook posts were made prior to his appointment as the State Co-ordinator and were purportedly against Bengali Muslims and Rohingyas.

The appointment of Hitesh Sarma, who replaced Prateek Hajela after the Supreme Court's intervention, has been opposed by the NGO.

On being asked about the same, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the State of Assam, told the Court that the NRC exercise now stands concluded, and that the new State Co-ordinator does not have a role to play anymore.

The Bench headed by CJI Bobde, however, sought an explanation from the State Co-ordinator and asked the State of Assam to ensure that the posts are either explained or withdrawn.