Hitesh Dev Sarma | SabrangIndia

Former NRC State Coordinator of Assam urges PM Modi for re-verification of NRC

sabrang — Fri, 21 Jun 2024 09:41:33 +0000

On June 18, 2024 former Assam State Coordinator of the National Register of Citizens (NRC), Hitesh Dev Sarma wrote a letter urging Prime Minister Narendra Modi for a personal intervention of the updated but not yet notified NRC, which was released on August 31, 2019.

In his letter Sarma also urged the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to inquire into the financial irregularities of NRC updating process and probable money laundering. Sarma has requested, “The National Investigation Agency (NIA) to probe if any foreign money was involved in the process to pave the way for inclusion of foreign nationals’ name in the NRC Assam.”

Sarma has also stated that an affidavit has been filed with the Supreme Court for the reverification process. Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has meanwhile stated that the final phase of the NRC is the task of the central government as of now, as the state government has completed its work in this phase.

On August 31, 2019 the final NRC was published with a total of 19,06,657 applicants left out from the NRC, with 3,11,21,004 inclusions.

Sarma, an officer in the Assam civil services, was appointed as the state coordinator of the NRC in 2019 after the previous coordinator, Prateek Hajela got a transfer to his home state, Madhya Pradesh. Sarma details that in 2013 he was debarred from the NRC office due to internal reasons. But on November 11, 2019 he was appointed as NRC state Coordinator after the deputation of Prateek Hajela. The current NRC coordinator is IAS officer, Partha Pratim Mazumdar.

Internal bureaucratic conflicts

The ruling central government led by BJP has notably been at loggerheads with Prateek Hajela after the publication of the final NRC. In the months running up to August 31 2019, Prateek Hajela had been rendered virtually dysfunctional in his post as NRC State Coordinator with the Government of Assam adopting a policy of non-cooperation with him. After the transfer of Prateek Hajela by the Supreme Court, the Government of Assam took a prompt decision to reinstate Hitesh Dev Sharma in a more senior position than before. Hitesh Dev Sharma is also known to be very close to the ruling party, BJP.

May 19, 2022 in a shocking turn of events in the already complicated journey of the NRC, Hitesh Deb Sarma had filed an FIR against Former NRC Coordinator Pratik Hajela. He alleged that the process of Family Tree Verification was conducted in a flawed manner under Hajela, with several “imposters” allegedly using “fraudulent” documents to establish linkage to genuine citizens. He also accused Hajela of deliberately using a software that prevented proper quality checks and permitted names of “foreigners” to be included in the NRC. In his letter to the PM, he has also stated that he discovered during sample checks that over 50,000 names of Indian citizens were missing.

Sarma and Hajela have not seen eye to eye. As per The Print, in a Facebook post in 2023, Sarma had alleged the All Assam Students’ Union (AASU) leader Samujjal Bhattacharya would take 16 lakh rupees per month from Hajela. Both Hajela and the AASU had decried these statements. As late as February 2024, the AASU’s Samujjal Bhattacharya has filed a defamation case against Sarma.

In 2022, four Left parties in Assam had demanded the removal of Hitesh Dev Sarma as the National register of Citizens (NRC) coordinator, as they relayed shock and anger over his First Information Report (FIR) against his predecessor Prateek Hajela. They further blamed him for stalling the NRC process. The parties who stated this were the Communist Party of India (CPI), Communist Party of India – Marxist (CPIM), Communist Party of India – Marxist Leninist (CPI-ML) and the Revolutionary Communist Party of India (RCPI).

NRC process continues at snail’s pace

Meanwhile, data shows that a number of cases remain pending. As per an affidavit submitted by the Union Government to the Supreme Court on December 11, 2023, it has been stated that till October 31, 2023, a total of 3,34,966 cases had been disposed of by the 100 Foreigners’ Tribunals operational in Assam. In addition to this, the affidavit stated that a total of 97,714 cases remained pending in the FTs. Furthermore, it was also stated that till December 2023, 1,8,461 cases arising out of FTs had been pending before the Gauhati High Court.

The Foreigners’ Tribunals are quasi-judicial bodies in Assam to decide the status of an individual as Indian or foreigner. Its members can be a retired judicial officer of the Assam Judicial Service, a retired civil servant or an advocate with a minimum of seven years of experience.

The NRC has been done under the supervision of the Supreme Court by employing more than 55,000 government employees after multiple hearings, re-verification and examination.

What of the people of Assam?

An important point above all is that while NRC was published at the expense of public funds from taxpayers, the people of Assam have been stuck in the citizenship crisis. Despite doing all the required procedures, the names of about 42 lakhs people were excluded from the first draft list. Ever after that the people of Assam have given their complete cooperation without any agitation or expression of frustration demanding for a permanent solution.

In the name of claim and objection, religious minorities and linguistic minorities, especially Bengali-speaking Muslims and Bengali speaking Hindus have been continuously harassed, facing severe socio-economic hurdles and psychological despair.

A number of people have even been driver to suicide, thinking that their name off the NRC means that their life is finished. Citizens for Justice and Peace has observed that over 29 people have died in detention camps in the state. Meanwhile, more than a hundred people have lost their lives while struggling to prove their citizenship, as they hang between the label of de-voters, FT cases, detention camps, NRC etc.

However, the names of more than 19 lakhs people have been excluded from the final NRC. Many have pointed out loopholes in the list. Shockingly, in several cases the names of the parents are included though children were excluded. Similarly some members of the family were included, while other members of the same family were excluded for no known reason.

Furthermore, observers point out that the rejection slip to the 3 crores left out of the NRC is supposed to be given within 120 days. Yet it has now been almost 5 years, and no rejection slip is given nor is the reason for the exclusion of these individuals given.

Over 27 lakhs people in Assam have been deprived of their Aadhaar card due to the NRC process, where they provided their biometric details during the re-verification process. The issue is another one that the people of the state have been grappling with and is a huge issue for the marginalised, who face the brunt of the NRC process. In the run up to the general assembly elections of 2024, civil society groups of Assam demanded for the Aadhaar card of these 27 lakhs to be issued at the earliest.

Therefore, as the people of Assam grapple with these issues, it is yet to be seen whether the plea by Hitesh Dev Sarma, who is said to be close to the BJP, will be heard.

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Assam: Left parties demand removal for Hitesh Dev Sarma as NRC Coordinator

Mon, 30 May 2022 05:43:23 +0000

Four Left parties in Assam are demanding the removal of Hitesh Dev Sarma as the National register of Citizens (NRC) coordinator, expressing shock and anger over his First Information Report (FIR) against his predecessor Prateek Hajela.

Readers would recall that on May 19, in a shocking turn of events in the already complicated journey of the NRC, Sarma filed an FIR against Hajela, under sections 120 (B) (criminal conspiracy), 166 (A) (public servant disobeying law), 167 (Public servant framing an incorrect document with intent to cause injury), 181 (false statement on oath or affirmation to public servant or person authorised to administer an oath or affirmation), 218 (public servant framing incorrect record or writing with intent to save person from punishment or property from forfeiture), 420 (cheating), 466 (forgery) and 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention).

He alleged that the process of Family Tree Verification was conducted in a flawed manner under Hajela, with several “Imposters” allegedly using “fraudulent” documents to establish linkage to genuine citizens. He accused Hajela of deliberately using a software that prevented proper quality checks and permitted names of “foreigners” to be included in the NRC.

Now, the Communist Party of India (CPI), Communist Party of India – Marxist (CPIM), Communist Party of India – Marxist Leninist (CPI-ML) and the Revolutionary Communist Party of India (RCPI) have demanded that Sarma be removed for not allowing the NRC to proceed and reach its logical conclusion. The parties have demanded Sara’s removal so that the NRC process can be completed quickly, alleging that he is conspiring to sabotage the entire process instead of fulfilling his duties.

In a press release issued by all the four parties, they reminded, “The NRC process was supervised by the Supreme Court,” and that “it is worrying that instead of moving the process forward quickly, the entire process has come to a standstill since Hitesh Dev Sarma was appointed as the new NRC coordinator after the final list was prepared.” They alleged, “The 200 members of the Foreigners’ Tribunals, appointed to complete the NRC process, have not been able to start work due to conspiracy of the NRC authorities and the state government, while salaries worth crores of rupees are being paid (to them). Such waste of public funds is unacceptable under any circumstances.” They further alleged, “The coordinator, who failed to fulfill his duties, has written letters to the members of the tribunal saying that the NRC list cannot be used as evidence before foreigners’ tribunals and people have been subjected to harassment (because of this).”

The original press release in Assamese may be read here:

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Another FIR against Prateek Hajela, this time by Hitesh Dev Sarma

Fri, 20 May 2022 14:09:41 +0000

Image Courtesy:barakbulletin.com

In a shocking turn of events in the already complicated journey of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Assam, the current NRC Coordinator Hitesh Dev Sarma has filed a First Information Report (FIR) against the former NRC Coordinator Prateek Hajela.

Readers would recall that the NRC update process was carried out under Hajela, but when the final NRC was published on August 31, 2019, it left out 19,06,657 people. But many people including those in the government and several local organisations such as All Assam Students Union (AASU), and other ethno-linguistic organisation leaders were unhappy with the NRC, claiming names of “foreigners” had been included. In October 2020, then Chief Minister of Assam, Sarbananda Sonowal, had openly rejected the NRC.

But things started taking a particularly ugly turn when Hajela was threatened and had to be transferred out of the state. Sarma succeeded him.

Now, Sarma has filed and FIR against Hajela under sections 120 (B) (criminal conspiracy), 166 (A) (public servant disobeying law), 167 (Public servant framing an incorrect document with intent to cause injury), 181 (false statement on oath or affirmation to public servant or person authorised to administer an oath or affirmation), 218 (public servant framing incorrect record or writing with intent to save person from punishment or property from forfeiture), 420 (cheating), 466 (forgery) and 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention).

A copy of Sarma’s complaint to the Superintendent of Police may be read here:

Previous complaints against Hajela

As SabrangIndia has reported previously, in November 2019, Rajib Deka, a member of Assam Public Works (APW), the NGO that filed the very petition in the Supreme Court based on which the National Register of Citizens (NRC) was conducted in Assam, filed an FIR with the anti-corruption branch of the CBI alleging that Hajela had appointed several retired government officials as his advisors paying them high salaries and giving them new vehicles. However, Deka alleges that there is no record of the work done by these people and neither has the expenditure on them been audited by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG).

Deka has also alleged that a large number of school teachers had been appointed to help with the NRC process, and though the records show that they were paid a remuneration, actually the teachers have not received any money. He also alleges that about 10,000 laptops that actually have a market value of Rs 22,500 were purchased at an inflated price of Rs 44,500 and that 11,000 electrical generators were also purchased at double the market price.

In February 2020, APEW accused Hajela of data tampering. On February 7, acting on a FIR filed by Assam Public Works (APW), an NGO that is the main petitioner in the NRC case in the Supreme Court, the Assam CID booked Hajela on charges of tampering data in the final list. Then again on February 12, the 50-year-old IAS officer from the Assam-Meghalaya cadre was embroiled in a fresh conspiracy where NRC data went missing from the website.

It appears the data went missing from the NRC website first on December 15 as the contract for hosting had not been renewed with Wipro, that agreed to continue hosting the data till end of January due to goodwill even after the expiry of its contract.

Then, in June 2021, APW again filed a complaint with the Assam Police alleging that former NRC Coordinator Prateek Hajela and his associates had manipulated data at stages as early as while conducting Family Tree Verification.

APW’s campaign against Hajela

APW has been at the forefront of the alleged “witch-hunt” against Hajela. Earlier, in December 2019, APW president Abhijeet Sharma and general secretary Dhrubajyoti Talukdar, had met with Hitesh Dev Sharma who took over as the NRC state coordinator after Prateek Hajela was shunted out amidst security concerns. APW submitted a nine-page memorandum demanding that a probe be conducted by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). They also asked for an independent audit of the NRC software, application and IT infrastructure.

There were also allegations that Data Entry Operators of the same immigrant community were employed in NRC Seva Kendras (NSK) in immigrant dominated areas, and that this led to improper verification of family tree and legacy data.

The APW memorandum named five software development companies; WIPRO, BOHNIMAN SYSTEM Pvt. Ltd., Maddoc Technologies, Trans Technologies Solutions, and RJ-45 Technologies, involved in the NRC process, and accused them of committing a corruption of Rs. 100 crores.

Previous corruption charges have been about artificially inflating prices of equipment purchased, as well as lack of accountability in paying salaries and giving perks to special advisors hired by Hajela. It is no secret that the BJP was upset that a large number of Muslims had made it into the final list.

Sarma’s reverification bid and SC contempt petition

Interestingly, in January 2021, Supreme Court issued notice to Hitesh Dev Sarma, in a contempt application filed by Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind (JUH) which states that the directive issued by him for reverification of final draft of NRC contravenes the court’s previous orders. A similar contempt petition had also been moved by the All Assam Minorities Students Union (AAMSU).

The NRC which was published in August 2019, was finalised under close monitoring and scrutiny of the Supreme Court. The final NRC had excluded over 1.9 million people in Assam, most of them hailing from deeply impoverished and marginalised communities.

An October 13, 2020 directive for reverification issued by Hitesh Dev Sarma had allegedly caused delays in filing of appeals by excluded persons, leaving their identity in the country in much uncertainty. Two contempt petitions were filed by JUH and AAMSU against this direction issued by Sarma to Deputy Commissioners and District Registrars of Citizen Registration (DRCR) for deleting ineligible persons from the final draft of NRC. The ineligible persons include persons belonging to categories such as Declared Foreigner (DF), Doubtful Voter (DV) and Pending cases before Foreigners Tribunals (PFT), along with the descendants of persons belonging to these categories. The petitioner stated that the unilateral directions amount to wilful disobedience of the Supreme Court’s orders passed on August 7, 2018, July 23, 2019 as well as judgment passed on August 13, 2019.

The petition stated that since the apex court has repeatedly stressed the urgency of completing and finalising the preparation of the NRC, the directive for reverification and revisiting of completed stages in the process directly violates the apex court’s orders. The petitioner contends that on July 23, 2019, the court had specifically rejected the need for further reverification and directed the publication of final NRC.

Sarma had also implied, in an affidavit dated December 3, 2020, submitted to the Gauhati High Court that the NRC published in August 2019 was a supplementary list and not the “final NRC”. According to him, at least the NRC contained names of at least 4,700 “ineligible” people.

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NRC Reverification: SC responds to contempt petition, issues notice to Hitesh Dev Sarma

Sat, 30 Jan 2021 04:18:03 +0000

The Supreme Court has issued notice to Hitesh Dev Sarma, Assam’s State Coordinator National Register of Citizens (NRC), in a contempt application filed by Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind (JUH) which states that the directive issued by him for reverification of final draft of NRC contravenes the court’s previous orders. A similar contempt petition had also been moved by the All Assam Minorities Students Union (AAMSU). Both parties were represented by Kapil Sibal and Fuzail Ahmed Ayyubi.

An October 13, 2020 directive for reverification issued by Hitesh Dev Sarma has caused delays in filing of appeals by excluded persons, leaving their identity in the country in much uncertainty. Two contempt petitions were filed by JUH and AAMSU against this direction issued by Sarma to Deputy Commissioners and District Registrars of Citizen Registration (DRCR) for deleting ineligible persons from the final draft of NRC. The ineligible persons include persons belonging to categories such as Declared Foreigner (DF), Doubtful Voter (DV) and Pending cases before Foreigners Tribunals (PFT), along with the descendants of persons belonging to these categories. The petitioner states that the unilateral directions amount to wilful disobedience of the Supreme Court’s orders passed on August 7, 2018, July 23, 2019 as well as judgment passed on August 13, 2019.

The petition states that since the apex court has repeatedly stressed the urgency of completing and finalising the preparation of the NRC, the directive for reverification and revisiting of completed stages in the process directly violates the apex court’s orders. The petitioner contends that on July 23, 2019, the court had specifically rejected the need for further reverification and directed the publication of final NRC.

“Devoid of any subjective satisfaction as to the need of conducting the reverification and unsettling an already finalized NRC, Assam prepared under the guardianship of this Hon’ble Court, the impugned contemptuous communication also fails to meet the test of legislative authority as well,” states the petition since the power to delete names from NRC lies with the Registrar General of Citizen Registration (respondent no. 2).

The petition also stresses that the process of updation of the NRC in Assam was monitored by the Supreme Court and all were orders passed by the then NRC co-ordinator (Prateek Hajela) only after updating the court about the same.

It may be recalled that after the final NRC was published, the Assam state government as well as several local organisations such as All Assam Students Union (AASU), were upset with the outcome, with both alleging that ‘foreigners’ had been mistakenly included in the final list. At that time Himanta Biswa Sarma, a powerful minister who holds portfolios like Health, Education and Finance in the Assam state government, had alleged that names of illegal Bangladeshi immigrants had been included in the NRC. He had demanded that a reverification of 20 percent of the names be carried out in border districts, and 10 percent names be verified in other districts.

This displeasure with the NRC led to a lot of drama, including levelling of a series of allegations of fraud, misappropriation of funds and data manipulation against the former NRC state coordinator Prateek Hajela who had to be shunted out of the state due to security concerns.

When Assam Public Works, the NGO that was spearheading the campaign moved the Supreme Court demanding reverification, the court summarily dismissed the request. A key reason for rejection was a submission by then NRC state coordinator Prateek Hajela that 27 percent reverification had already been done! This rendered the need for a 10-20 percent reverification unnecessary.

The court had also made specific directions on inclusion of descendants of persons belonging to DF, DV or PFT category and stated that “for those persons born before 3 December 2004, if the parent through whom legacy is drawn is not DV or DF or PFT and is found eligible for inclusion in NRC, but the other parent from whom legacy is not drawn is a DV or DF or PFT, then, such descendants may be included in NRC”. Thus, the directive issued by Hitesh Dev Sarma, the current NRC co-ordinator, to delete descendants of these categories completely, is in contravention to this order of the Supreme Court and is also vague as it does not define who comes under “descendants” thus causing much uncertainty in application.

The petitioner states that the only two stages remaining are: issuance of rejection slips and appeals to Foreigners Tribunals and publication of the Final NRC by the Registrar General of Citizens Registration. However, several excluded persons have been unable to file such appeals due to non-issuance of certified copies of the rejection orders and the unnecessary delay means disqualification on the excluded persons while also being detrimental to a peaceful life with dignity, states the petition.

The petitioner further states that reverification will cause further delays in completion of trials and appeals, amounting to violation of right to life under Article 21 of the Constitution.

The order may be read here.

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