– Shabana Javed
Kolkata: A public interest litigation (PIL) has been filed in Calcutta High Court, demanding the implementation of National Register of Citizens (NRC) in West Bengal. The High Court on Tuesday directed the state government to clarify whether any similar cases are currently pending before it.
The PIL was filed by Parmita Dey, and the court accepted the petition through her advocate, Firoz Edulji.
A division bench comprising Justices Sujoy Pal and Smita Das scheduled the matter for hearing on Tuesday. This development comes amid growing political tensions surrounding NRC in the state. Earlier this month, Trinamool Gen.-Sec. Abhishek Banerjee alleged that the BJP was attempting to implement NRC in West Bengal through indirect means. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had also raised concerns over NRC-related notices being sent to Indian citizens in Assam, branding them as “foreigners” or “illegal immigrants.”
The controversy stems from the final draft of the NRC published in Assam on August 31, 2019, under the supervision of the Supreme Court. Out of approximately 3.3 crore applicants, around 19.07 lakh names were excluded from the list. The Union Government had filed a plea in the Supreme Court, seeking re-verification of the draft list. However, on August 12, 2019, the then CJI Ranjan Gogoi-led bench rejected the petition. It is alleged that due to complications arising from the NRC process, several lakh individuals in Assam remain without Aadhaar numbers, leaving them unable to access essential services such as banking and government welfare schemes.
