Hajela's transfer will pave way for correct re-verification of NRC: Sr SC advocate

Welcoming the Supreme Court's order to transfer NRC coordinator Prateek Hajela, a senior advocate of the Supreme Court, Upamanyu Hazarika, said that Hajela's sudden transfer is not surprising as the final list of the first phase of NRC has already come out and his services are no longer required now.

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday directed the Centre to transfer National Register of Citizens (NRC) coordinator Prateek Hajela to Madhya Pradesh with immediate effect.

Reacting to the development, a senior advocate of the Supreme Court, Upamanyu Hazarika, said that Hajela's sudden transfer is not surprising as the final list of the first phase of NRC has already been released, and his services are no longer required now.

Accusing Hajela of inaction, he further added, "There has been a lot of discrepancy and fraud at various level in NRC that resulted in the inclusion of a large number of foreigners in the list. This was brought to Hajela's notice time and again, but he never took any action to rectify this".

Welcoming the move, the senior advocate further opined that it will now pave the way for correct re-verification of NRC.

Hajela, a 1995 batch IAS officer of the Assam-Meghalaya cadre, was tasked with supervising the massive exercise of revising the citizen's list in Assam, a complex project that has triggered controversy.