Draft NRC can't lead to any action by any authority: Supreme Court
New Delhi, July 31: In an obvious move to douse the uproar following the publication of the draft NRC, the Supreme Court on Tuesday said the list cannot be the basis for any coercive action by any authority.
"What has been published is a complete draft NRC. It can't be the basis for any action by any authority," said a bench of Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justice Rohinton Fali Nariman as Attorney General K.K. Venugopal pointed to the serious human problem.
Referring to the statement by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and the fears of influx to adjoining States, the Attorney General said claims and objection by all those left out in the draft NRC have to be considered and would involve a proper hearing with the local registrar issuing notice and calling for documents as provided under the statute.
Saying that the claims and objections will have to be considered carefully, the Attorney General told the court that "full opportunity must be given to all".
As Venugopal said there may be a need for biometric proof, the court refused to get into it.
"Mr. AG, at the moment we don't express any opinion. Our silence should not be construed as agreement or consent," Justice Gogoi said.
The court was also informed by the Attorney General that the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) giving the modalities for dealing with the claims and procedures will be prepared by the concerned ministry by August 15.
Fixing August 16 as next date of hearing, the bench observed that the SOP must be fair.
At the outset of the hearing, the State Co-ordinator of the National Register of Citizens (NRC), Prateek Hajela, informed the court about the compliance of the court's order with the publication of draft NRC on July 30.
On a question by Justice Gogoi about how much time it will take to publish the final NRC, saying "we have read somewhere that it will be published by December 31", Hajela said: "We have not fixed any date."
The draft NRC would be open for inspection till August 7, he said. Thereafter, from August 8, training of officials to deal with the claims and objection would commence.
The filing of the claims and the objections would commence from August 30 and will last till September 28.
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5.8 magnitude quake hits Afghanistan killing 8
Kabul (AP): An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 5.8 rattled parts of northern and eastern Afghanistan and western Pakistan late Friday, killing at least eight people in Afghanistan, authorities said.
The region is highly seismically active, and quakes have caused thousands of deaths in recent years. Friday's earthquake had an epicentre in the Hindu Kush mountain range, about 150 kilometres (90 miles) east of the Afghan city of Kunduz, according to the Euro-Mediterranean Seismological Center and the US Geological Survey.
Hafizullah Basharat, a spokesman for the Kabul governor, said eight people were killed and a child was injured when a house collapsed on the outskirts of the capital. He said all were members of the same family.
Kabul is roughly 290 kilometres (180 miles) southwest of the epicentre. There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries from areas closer to the epicentre. The area is remote, and it can often take several hours before local authorities can relay information back to Kabul.
With the epicentre at a depth of over 180 kilometers, the quake jolted a wide swath of Afghanistan and Pakistan. In Pakistan, it was felt in the cities and towns of Islamabad, Peshawar, Chitral, Swat and Shangla, according to the Pakistan Meteorological Department. There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries in Pakistan.
Afghanistan's Health Ministry spokesman Sharafat Zaman said Kabul and provincial health authorities had been put on alert.
Last August, a 6.0 earthquake that struck a remote, mountainous part of eastern Afghanistan killed more than 2,200 people, levelling villages and trapping people under rubble. Most casualties were in Kunar province, where people typically live in wood and mud-brick houses along steep valleys.
In November, a 6.3 earthquake struck Samangan province in northern Afghanistan, killing at last 27 people and injuring more than 950. It also damaged historical sites, including Afghanistan's famed Blue Mosque in the city of Mazar-e-Sharif, and the Bagh-e-Jahan Nama Palace in Khulm.
On Oct 7, 2023, a 6.3 quake followed by strong aftershocks in western Afghanistan killed thousands of people.
Impoverished Afghanistan often faces difficulty in responding to natural disasters, especially in remote regions. Many homes in rural and outlying areas are made from mud bricks and wood, with many poorly built.
M5.9 earthquake strikes Afghanistan-Tajikistan border region in Badakhshan. Widely reported at 08:42 pm, depth 171 km. No immediate casualty or damage reports from Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Pakistan, India or nearby areas. #sismo pic.twitter.com/Lhddad9Uwr
— GeoTechWar (@geotechwar) April 3, 2026
