No person excluded from NRC to be detained till all legal remedies exhausted: MHA
New Delhi: The Centre on Monday said no person excluded from the final NRC list will be detained till he or she exhausts all legal remedies.
In a statement, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) also said the Assam government has made necessary arrangements to provide legal aid to the needy amongst those excluded from the final National Register of Citizens (NRC) through the district legal services authorities.
"Persons left out of final NRC not to be detained under any circumstance till they exhaust all remedies available under law," the statement said.
It added that such persons will continue to enjoy all rights as earlier, like any other citizen, e.g. right to employment, education and property, etc.
The MHA said adequate judicial process is available for the people left out to appeal to the Foreigners' Tribunals (FTs) within 120 days from August 31, when the final NRC was published.
To facilitate the appeals, 200 new FTs will be functional from Monday, in addition to 100 already existing, it said.
According to the final NRC released on Saturday, out of the total 3.3 crore applicants, 3.11 crore figured in the list and names of about 19 lakh residents were excluded.
Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal had said last week the exclusion of someone's name from the final NRC does not amount to the person automatically becoming a foreigner as such a decision can be taken only by a foreigners' tribunal after following proper legal process.
"No one should be worried. No one should panic. Government is here to take care of everyone. Even those who will be excluded from the final list will get enough opportunity to prove their Indian citizenship," he had said.
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Man arrested with Rs 2.54-crore heroin in Mumbai
Mumbai (PTI): Police have arrested a man and seized over 500 grams of heroin worth Rs 2.54 crore in the illicit market from him in Mumbai, officials said on Friday.
The police's Anti-Narcotics Cell (ANC) made the drug seizure in Santacruz in the western suburbs. The operation was conducted by the Kandivali unit of the ANC on Thursday as part of a special crackdown against drug trafficking in the area, they said.
Acting on specific inputs, an ANC team conducted a raid in Santacruz (East) and intercepted a man. During a search, the team recovered 508 grams of high-grade heroin from his possession, an official said.
The seized contraband, a highly addictive, opioid drug derived from morphine, is estimated to be worth Rs 2.54 crore in the international market, he informed.
Following the seizure, a case was registered against the man under relevant sections of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 1985, and he was formally placed under arrest in the early hours of Friday.
The police are currently investigating the source of the drug and trying to identify the intended recipients of the consignment, he said.
