By Nava Thakuria*
Guwahati: There was yet another twist to the curious case of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) in the court in Assam today. Prateek Hajela, the former National Register of Citizens (NRC) Assam coordinator – who was summoned by the Kamrup (metro) additional district & sessions judge to appear before the court today, failed to do so, following which the court allowed the petitioner to bring the matter to Hajela’s notice through newspaper-advertisements.
The petitioner Luit Kumar Barman, who is an entrepreneur turned award-winning film producer, informed that the concerned advertisement will be published in two national dailies (one in English and another in Hindi) and two widely circulated local newspapers of Madhya Pradesh and Assam (as Hajela hails from Madhya Pradesh and recently he took voluntary retirement from the service of Assan government).
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Barman filed the petition on the basis of the report of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) on the NRC updation process in the State where it detected the misuse of over Rs 260 crore and recommended penal actions against Hajela and the system integrator (Wipro limited). Wipro was also summoned by the court to appear on 17 November and it submitted an affidavit before the court Through its representative.
However, another party named Integrated System and Services (represented by its proprietor Utpal Hazarika) was not served the summon duly and the court directed the petitioner to take steps. The court fixed 6 February 2024 for the next appearance by all the parties and also the submission of newspapers carrying the advertisements by the petitioner.
*Senior journalist
