The Supreme Court on Friday directed the Election Commission secretary to personally appear before it on March 12 to explain the position of all voters of Assam whose names earlier figured in the voter list but were subsequently deleted as they did not find mention in the final draft NRC.

The names of over 40 lakh applicants were not included in the final draft that was published on July 30, 2018.

A bench of Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justices Abdul Nazeer and Sanjiv Khanna sought the personal presence of the Election Commission secretary at 10.30am on March 12 as, despite an earlier notice issued to the poll panel on February 1 by the court, none chose to attend the hearing.

The court had earlier also sought responses from the Centre, the Assam government, the Assam State Election Commission and the state coordinator NRC on a joint petition filed by Gopal Seth and Susanta Sen.

Seth, a resident of North 24 Parganas, Bengal, claims to have filed the petition as a public-spirited person, while Sen, a resident of Sivasagar district in Assam, says his name was deleted from the draft NRC along with that of his wife, Soumita Sen, both voters of Sibsagar Assembly constituency in the previous elections.

He gave his name in the voter list as Ward No. 12, District Sibsagar, serial No. 559, part No. 296.

The petitioners complained that the fundamental right of a large number of people to cast vote had been violated by the authorities. These people, whose names were on the Assam electoral rolls but not in the draft NRC, were keen on casting their votes during the general elections, they added.

The petition, filed through advocate Pijush K. Roy, pleads that thousands of names had been deleted from the voter list of Assam on the ground that these did not find mention in the July 30 draft NRC.

According to the petitioners, these names have been erroneously not listed in the NRC. As such, they have already filed their “claims” with the NRC state coordinator who is at present engaged in the preparation of the final NRC.

Sen pleaded that the deletion of his name, which was earlier there in the voter list for Sivasagar district, on the basis of the draft NRC amounted to violation of his constitutional right to cast a vote.

“The right to vote is a statutory right and the freedom of voting is a part of the freedom of expression protected under Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution. The voters’ participation explains the strength of democracy. Non-participation causes frustration and disinterest, which is not a healthy sign of a growing democracy like India. The right to vote originates from the Constitution and in accordance with the constitutional mandate contained in Article 326… The right to vote at the elections to the House of the people or legislative Assembly is a constitutional right and not merely a statutory right,” the petition said, pleading that such a view was taken by the apex court in catena of decisions.