All Assam Ahom Association Represented By Its President Mr. Jnanandan Phukan vs. Union Of India Represented By The Secretary

ITEM NO.301 COURT NO.2 SECTION PIL-W

S U P R E M E C O U R T O F I N D I A RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS

Writ Petition(s)(Civil) No(s). 274/2009

ASSAM PUBLIC WORKS Petitioner(s)

VERSUS

UNION OF INDIA & ORS. Respondent(s)

(I.A.NO.22616/2018 - IMPLEADING PARTY IA 10/2013-INTERVENTION APPLICATION 86036/2018-CLARIFICATION/DIRECTION 86040/2018-CLARIFICATION/DIRECTION 103961/2018-INTERVENTION APPLICATION 105327/2018-APPROPRIATE ORDERS/DIRECTIONS 105666/2018-EXEMPTION FROM FILING O.T.) WITH W.P.(C) No. 562/2012 (X) (I.A. 114708/2017 Application for early hearing I.A.1/2012-STAY APPLICATION) W.P.(C) No. 916/2014 (PIL-W) (IA 2/2015 FOR PERMISSION TO FILE ANNEXURES) IA 3/2015 FOR EXEMPTION FROM FILING O.T. and IA No.119677/2017 impleading party, I.A.1/2014-STAY APPLICATION) W.P.(C) No. 876/2014 (X) (I.A.1/2014-STAY APPLICATION) W.P.(C) No. 311/2015 (X) I.A. NO.2/2015 I.A. NO1/2015-SEEKING LEAVE TO FILE WRITTEN ARGUMENTS W.P.(C) No. 449/2015 (X) (IA 1/2015) W.P.(C) No. 450/2015 (X) (IA 1/2015) W.P.(C) No. 68/2016 (PIL-W) (ia no.1/2017- INTERVENTION APPLICATION) W.P.(C) No. 470/2018 (X) (FOR ADMISSION and I.R. and IA No.69948/2018-EXEMPTION FROM FILING O.T.) Digitally signed by NEETU KHAJURIA Date: 2018.08.07 17:55:50 IST Reason: Signature Not Verified

Diary No(s). 20944/2018 (XIV) (FOR ADMISSION and I.R. and IA No.80351/2018-CONDONATION OF DELAY IN FILING and IA No.80352/2018-EXEMPTION FROM FILING C/C OF THE

IMPUGNED JUDGMENT and IA No.80350/2018-PERMISSION TO FILE SLP/TP)

Diary No(s). 21368/2018 (XIV) (FOR ADMISSION and I.R. and IA No.82085/2018-CONDONATION OF DELAY IN FILING and IA No.82087/2018-EXEMPTION FROM FILING C/C OF THE IMPUGNED JUDGMENT and IA No.82088/2018-INTERVENTION/IMPLEADMENT and IA No.82084/2018-PERMISSION TO FILE SLP/TP and IA No.82086/2018- PERMISSION TO FILE ADDITIONAL DOCUMENTS)

Diary No(s). 21377/2018 (XIV) (FOR ADMISSION and I.R. and IA No.92415/2018-CONDONATION OF DELAY IN FILING and IA No.92417/2018-EXEMPTION FROM FILING C/C OF THE IMPUGNED JUDGMENT and IA No.92411/2018-PERMISSION TO FILE SLP/TP and IA No.92419/2018-CONDONATION OF DELAY IN REFILING)

Diary No(s). 21959/2018 (XIV) (FOR ADMISSION and I.R. and IA No.82961/2018-CONDONATION OF DELAY IN FILING and IA No.82962/2018-EXEMPTION FROM FILING C/C OF THE IMPUGNED JUDGMENT and IA No.82959/2018-PERMISSION TO FILE SLP/TP )

Date : 07-08-2018 These matters were called on for hearing today.

CORAM :

HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE RANJAN GOGOI HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE ROHINTON FALI NARIMAN

For Parties :

Mr. K.K. Venugopal, Attorney General Mr. Tushar Mehta, ASG Mr. R.M. Bajaj, Adv. Ms. Rashmi Malhotra, Adv. Mr. Rajat Nair, Adv. Ms. Binu Tamta, Adv. Mr. Rohit Bhatt, Adv. Ms. Rekha Pandey, Adv. Mr. B.V. Balaramdas, AOR Mr. Prateek Jalan, Adv. Mr. Tushar Mehta, ASG Mr. Ajit Kr. Sinha, Sr. Adv. Ms. Kiran Bhardwaj, Adv. Mr. Raj Bahadur, Adv. Mr. Arun Yadav, Adv. For Ms. Anil Katiyar, AOR Mr. Tushar Mehta, ASG Mr. Shuvodeep Roy, AOR Mr. Rajat Nair, Adv. Mr. Sayooj Mohandas M., Adv. Ms. L.S. Changsan, Principal Secy.

Mr. B.H. Marlapalle, Sr.Adv. Mr. A.S. Tapadar, Adv. Mr. Ajit Wagh, Adv. Mr. Apoorv Shukla, Adv. Mr. Mansoor Ali, AOR Mr. Kailash Prashad Pandey, AOR Mr. Manish Goswami, Adv. Mr. Rameshwar Prasad Goyal, AOR Mr. Santi Ranjan Das, Adv. Mr. Anindo Mukherjee, Adv. Mrs. Sarla Chandra, AOR Mr. Somiran Sharma, AOR Mr. Partha Sil, AOR Mr. Kapil Sibal, Sr. Adv. Ms. Indira Jaising, Sr. Adv. Mr. Salman Khurshid, Sr. Adv. Mr. Fuzail Ahmad Ayyubi, AOR Mr. Abdul Qadir, Adv. Mr. Ibad Mushtaq, Adv. Mr. Paras Nath Singh, Adv. Mr. Shakil Ahmad Syed, AOR Mr. Mohd. Parvez Dabas, Adv. Mr. Uzmi Jameel Husain, Adv. Mr. Pulkit Chandna, Adv. Mr. Milan laskar, Adv. Ms. Sushmita Das, Adv. Mr. V.Giri, Sr. Adv. Mr. Shakil Ahmad Syed, AOR Mr. Mohd. Parvez Dabas, Adv. Mr. Uzmi Jameel Husain, Adv. Mr. Daanish Ahmad Syed, Adv. Mr. A.S. Tapadar, Adv. Mr. H.U. Choudhury, Adv. Mr. Mansoor Ali, AOR Mr. A.S. Tapadar, Adv. Mr. Chandan Kumar Mandal, Adv. Mr. Gaurav Dhingra, AOR Mr. B. Krishna Prasad, AOR Mr. Snehasish Mukherjee, AOR

Mr. Shuvodeep Roy, AOR Mr. Rituraj Biswas, Adv. Mr. Shibashish Misra, AOR Mr. Mehmood Pracha, Adv. Mr. Shadan Farasat, AOR Mr. A. Chaliha, Adv. Mr. Mohit D. Ram, AOR Ms. Monisha Handa, Adv. Mr. Krishan Kumar Pandey, Adv. Mr. Hitesh Kumar Sharma, Adv. Mr. Surender Mishra, Adv. Mr. Mohan Pandey, AOR Ms. Madhumita Bhattacharjee, AOR Mr. Guntur Prabhakar, AOR Mr. Abhijit Sengupta, AOR Mr. Avijit Roy, AOR M/S. Corporate Law Group, AOR Ms. Anitha Shenoy, Adv. Ms. Rashmi Nandakumar, AOR Ms. Srishti Agnihotri, Adv. Ms. Remya Raj, Adv. Ms. Sneha Kalita, AOR Ms. Sushma Suri, AOR Mr. Pradeep Misra, AOR Mr. Aditya Kr. Dubey, Adv. Mr. V.K. Sidharthan, AOR Mr. Gopal Singh, AOR Mr. Anil Kumar Pandey, Adv. Mr. Sunny Choudhary, Adv. Mr. Abhishek, AOR Mr. Chanchal Kumar Ganguli, AOR Mr. D.S. Mahra, AOR

Mr. Suhaan Mukerji, Adv. Ms. Astha Sharma, Adv. Mr. Harsh Hiroo Gurhasani, Adv. Mr. Amit Verma, Adv. Ms. Kajal Dalal, Adv. M/s. PLR Chambers & Co., AOR Mr. Ashok Kumar Singh, AOR Ms. Rachana Srivastava, AOR Ms. Monika, Adv. Mr. P.V. Yogeswaran, AOR Mr. Anuvrat Sharma, AOR Ms. D Bharathi Reddy, AOR Ms. Rachna Gandhi, Adv. Mr. Bhupesh Narula, Adv. Mr. K.V. Jagdishvaran, Adv. Ms. G. Indira, AOR Mr. Aniruddha P. Mayee, AOR Mr. A. Selvin Raja, Adv. Mr. Chirag Jain, Adv. Mr. Abhinav Mukerji, AOR Mr. Tapesh Kumar Singh, AOR Mr. Mohd. Waquas, Adv. Mr. Aditya Pratap Singh, Adv. M/s. K.J. John & co., AOR Ms. Aruna Mathur, Adv. Mr. Avneesh Arputham, Adv. Ms. Anuradha Arputham, Adv Ms. Geetanjali, Adv. M/s. Arputham Aruna & Co., AOR Mr. Sarad Kumar Singhania, Adv. Mr. Milind Kumar, AOR. Mr. V.N. Raghupathy, AOR Ms. Hemantika Wahi, AOR Ms. Abha R. Sharma, AOR Mr. Merusagar Samantray, AOR Mr. Salvedor Santosh Rebello, Adv. Ms. Lhingneivah, Adv.

Ms. Liz Mathew, AOR Mr. C.K. Sasi, AOR Mr. Ranjan Mukherjee, AOR Mr. D. Lyngdoh, Adv. Ms. K. Enatoli Sema, AOR Mr. Amit Kumar Singh, Adv. Mr. Z.H. Isaac Haiding, Adv. Ms. Ranjeeta Rohatgi, AOR Mr. Kuldip Singh, AOR Mr. B. Balaji, AOR Mr. Parijat Sinha, AOR Ms. Ruchi Kohli, AOR Mr. Prateek Jalan, Adv. Ms. Malvika Trivedi, Adv., Mr. Rahul Kriplani, Adv. Mr. Ankit Yadav, Adv. Mr. T. Mahipal, AOR Ms. Diksha Rai, AOR Ms. Palak Mahajan, Adv. Mr. Debojit Borkakati, AOR Mr. M. Balashivudu, Adv. Mr. Praveen Swarup, Adv. Mr. Shishir Kumar Saxena, Adv. Mr. S. Udaya Kumar Sagar, Adv. Mr. M. Shoeb Alam, AOR Ms. Fauzia Shakil, Adv. Mr. Ujjwal Singh, Adv. Mr. Mojahid Karim Khan, Adv. Mr. Sanjay Kumar Visen, AOR Mr. Mehmood Pracha, Adv. Mr. Shadan Farasat, AOR Mr. A. Chaliha, Adv. Mr. A.N.S. Nadkarni, ASG Mr. Pratap Venugopal, Adv. Ms. Surekha Raman, Adv. Ms. Niharika, Adv.

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Ms. Kanika Kaliyarasan,Adv. For M/s. K.J. John & Co. Mr. Leishangthem Roshmani Kh, AOR Ms. Maibam Babina, Adv. Mr. Ejaz Maqbool, Adv. Ms. Akriti Chaubey, Adv. Ms. Tanya Shree, Adv. Ms. Quarratulian, Adv. Mr. Kunwar Aditya Singh, Adv. Mr. S.S. Shamshery, A.A.G. Rajasthan Mr. Amit Sharma, Adv. Mr. Sandeep Singh, Adv. Mr. Ankit Raj, Adv. Ms. Ruchi Kohli, AOR Mr. Milind Kumar, AOR Ms. Indira Bhakar, Adv. Ms. Hemantika Wahi, AOR Ms. Jesal Wahi, Adv. Ms. Vishakha, Adv. Ms. Puja Singh, Adv. Mr. Syed Ali Ahmad, Adv. Mr. Syed Tanweer Ahmad, Adv. Mr. S.S. Bandyopadhyay, Adv. Mr. Mohan Pandey, Adv. Mr. V.N. Raghupathy, AOR Mr. Parikshit P. Angadi, Adv. Md. Apzal Ansari, Adv. Ms. Abha R. Sharma, AOR. Mr. D.S. Parmar, Adv. Mr. Ankit Mishra, Adv. Ms. Lhingneivah, Adv. Mr. Salvedor Santosh Rebello, Adv. Mr. Merusagar Samantaray, AOR Mr. C.K. Sasi, AOR Ms. Nayantara Roy, Adv. Mr. Ranjan Mukherjee, AOR Mr. D. Lyngdoh, Adv. Mr. K.V. Kharlyngdoh, Adv. Mr. M.Yogesh Kanna, AOR Ms. Sujatha Bagadhi, Adv. Mr. S. Partha Sakathi, Adv.

UPON hearing the counsel the Court made the following O R D E R

The hearing today has been convened suo motu, this Court being disturbed by certain statements made by Shri Prateek Hajela, State Coordinator for National Registration (NRC) as well as Shri Sailesh, Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India, which appeared in a section of the Press.

The aforesaid statements, without dilating, in the considered view of the Court, are highly improper and touches upon matters which should have formed the subject matter. Court's orders to be passed after submission of the standard operating procedure by the Union of India, as recorded in our previous order dated 31st July, 2018. In fact after the aforesaid order of the Court was passed there could have been no room for any of the aforesaid two authorities to make the statements in question.

We could have taken a sterner view of the matter but considering the fact that the present is a stage where the process for publication of the final NRC is to be initiated and completed, we refrain from the aforesaid course of action and instead deem it appropriate to direct Shri Hajela

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as well as Shri Sailesh to be cautious in future and to devote their time and attention only to the work assigned to them under the Court's orders, namely, preparation and publication of final NRC.

Both the officers before making any statement or undertaking any step with regard to the preparation of the final NRC. will seek appropriate orders/directions from the Court and only thereafter wold undertake such measures as may be permitted by the Court.

Beyond the above, we do not consider it necessary to say anything further at this stage.

The matter(s) will now come up on 16th August, 2018 as ordered earlier.

(NEETU KHAJURIA) COURT MASTER

(ASHA SONI) BRANCH OFFICER