Guwahati, Aug 10: The Supreme Court has directed the central and the Assam governments to file their counter affidavits within six weeks in a batch of petitions seeking implementation of post-NRC procedures, including the issuance of identity cards to those included in the final NRC published in 2019. An advocate representing the writ petitioners said the court had once again directed the governments to file their replies. "Three writ petitions were taken up today. Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal informed the Bench that there has been no reply from the government to the petitions. The Supreme Court has again directed the government to file a counter affidavit," he said. The advocate added, “The Registrar General of India has filed its affidavit, and we have been asked to file a response to it. The matter will now be heard after six weeks.” According to a report published by Live Law, a legal news portal, the matter was heard by a Bench comprising Justice P.S. Narasimha and Justice Alok Aradhe, which was informed that despite notices having been issued earlier, replies from the Centre and the Assam Government were still awaited. The petitions have been filed by Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind, the All Assam Minority Students' Union (AAMSU) and the Assam Sankhyalaghu Sangram Parishad. As per the report, Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for Jamiat, told the court that the Union and the State had not yet filed their responses and sought permission to file a rejoinder to the affidavit already submitted by the Registrar General of India (RGI). The Bench also took note of an interlocutory application linked to a separate petition filed by former NRC State Coordinator Hitesh Dev Sarma. Senior Advocate Manish Goswami submitted that Sarma's plea raised issues that were substantially connected to the pending petitions and sought its tagging with the ongoing proceedings. As noted by Live Law, Sarma's petition seeks re-certification and re-verification of the NRC on the ground that the final list contains alleged inaccuracies, a position that differs from the reliefs sought in the present petitions. After hearing Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati for the Union Government, the court directed that Sarma's petition be tagged with the other matters and heard after the filing of replies. The petitioners have argued that although the final NRC was published in August 2019, authorities have not completed the next mandatory steps prescribed under law. They contend that identity cards have not been issued to the 3.11 crore persons included in the NRC, as envisaged under Rule 13 of the Citizenship (Registration of Citizens and Issue of National Identity Cards) Rules, 2003. A representative associated with one of the petitioners said the core demand was that those included in the NRC should receive identity cards, while those left out should be provided rejection slips and an opportunity to appeal. "The final list of NRC has been published and those who have been registered under it must get ID cards and the 19 lakh excluded must get the opportunity for appeal. The State has not filed its affidavit, and if it had done so, the matter would have moved ahead," he said. The petitions further contend that rejection slips have not been issued to the nearly 19 lakh persons excluded from the NRC, thereby preventing them from pursuing appeals as provided under the relevant rules. According to the petitioners, the failure to undertake these steps has rendered the NRC process incomplete and has affected the rights of both included and excluded individuals.