The Centre said it was weighing all options to implement the National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Tripura but any decision would be taken only after considering the ramifications in other parts of the country.
A senior government official said other provisions like the Citizenship Act, Foreigners Act and the Passport Act existed to detect and deport illegal immigrants in the country. The official said the importance of these Acts could not be ignored before taking a final view. On October 8, a petition was filed by the Tripura People’s Front and others in the Supreme Court to update the NRC in Tripura as is being done in Assam, in order to detect and deport “illegal immigrants” from Bangladesh. The SC issued a notice to the Centre and the State government on the petition. The petition asked the SC to direct the authorities to update the NRC with respect to Tripura in terms of Rules 3 and 4 of The Citizenship (Registration of Citizens and Issue of National Identity Cards) Rules, 2003, by taking July 19, 1948, as the cut-off date