40 lakh people were excluded from the draft NRC list (File)

The Supreme Court on Tuesday extended the deadline for the final publication of Assam's National Register of Citizens (NRC) list from July 31 to August 31. It, however, rejected the centre and the state government's request for 20 per cent sample re-verification of the draft list published last year.

Attorney General KK Venugopal told the court that the centre and the state government wanted re-verification of the NRC lists as only 7.7 per cent illegal migrants were found in the border areas even though the state average was 12.7 per cent.

The local officials may not have identified illegal Bangladeshi migrants, he said.

In response, the court said it was not inclined to order re-verification of the draft list.

The court said the concerns of various petitioners will be heard on August 7.

Last week, the centre had sought more time from the court to finalise the list, arguing lakhs of people were wrongly included in the draft list.

"India can't be world's refugee capital," Solicitor General Tushar Mehta had told the top court, appearing on behalf of the central government.

Assam, which had faced an influx of people from Bangladesh since the early 20th century, is the only state with an NRC which was first prepared in 1951.

The ongoing process to update the list has triggered concerns from rights groups with more than 40 lakh people excluded from the draft NRC so far.

Home Minister Amit Shah last week said in parliament that the government will identify illegal immigrants staying in any part of the country and deport them as per international law.