Petition in Gauhati HC for unlocking blocked biometrics taken during NRC drafting

The Gauhati High Court has accepted a writ petition directing both the central and state governments to release the blocked biometrics collected during the drafting of the National Register of Citizens (NRC).

Petitioner, Sanjoy Dey and his son Anoowabh appealed to the court to ensure that their sealed biometrics be issued so that they can apply for their Aadhaar card.

He also appealed for court intervention to obtain NRC rejection slips so that he and four other members of his family could exercise their right to appeal against NRC’s expulsion in court.

Justice Manish Ranjan Pathak, after hearing his plea on Wednesday, accepted it and fixed March 9 for hearing of the case.

The petitioners said that the Aadhaar card office has made it clear that they will not be issued cards in their name to prevent duplication of their biometrics as their fingerprints are already locked. The matter was raised during the hearing of his application for inclusion in the National Register of Citizens.

“It is depriving us of many basic rights and we are appealing to the court to intervene,” he told the court.

Biometrics of 27.43 lakh applicants were taken during the NRC exercise claims and objections phase before the list was published on August 31, 2019. The NRC authority later froze the collected biometric data, after which these applicants could not apply for their Aadhaar card.

Five members of Sanjoy Day’s family applied to join the NRC on August 27, 2015, but none of them were included in the draft or final civil list.

The Supreme Court had directed in November 2018 that those who are excluded from the list of draft NRCs published on July 31, 2018, must submit their biometrics during the hearing of the claim.

A total of 27.43 lakh people had registered for their biometrics but 1.9 lakh people did not find their name in the final list.