The Supreme Court on Monday asked the Assam government to look into the controversial remarks made by the new state coordinator of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) Hitesh Dev Sarma on his Facebook page prior to his new appointment.
The apex court sought an explanation from the state government over allegations that he has expressed his biasness through various posts on Facebook earlier.
Moreover, the new NRC coordinator was also asked to explain about the reason he had made those controversial remarks.
It may be mentioned that the Congress leaders of the state met Registrar General of India (RGI) Vivek Joshi seeking Sarma’s removal soon after he had been appointed as the new NRC coordinator.
Also read: Abdul Khaleque opposes Hitesh Dev Sarma’s appointment as NRC coordinator
In the memorandum submitted by the Congress leaders, they alleged that Sarma has made persistent and very strong anti NRC comments on Facebook over last 2-3 years which clearly indicate that he does not believe in the Supreme Court mandated project.
Moreover, Barpeta MP Abdul Khaleque also wrote to Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal, urging him to reconsider the decision of appointing Sarma as the new NRC coordinator.
In his letter to Sonowal, the senior Congress leader called Dev Sarma as ‘bias, partial, and not trustworthy’.
“After transferring former NRC coordinator Prateek Hajela, we were expecting the Assam government to appoint someone more capable for an error-free NRC. But the appointment of Hitesh Dev Sarma has left us in complete disbelief. Sarma’s various Facebook posts reveal his bias identity and we think his appointment will never yield an error-free NRC,” Khaleque added.
Dev Sarma a 1986-batch Assam civil servant, was serving as the secretary to the urban development and finance departments of the Assam government before he had been appointed as the new NRC coordinator.