Many people said they were informed about the re-verification process at the last minute.

The Supreme Court today reiterated that Assam authorities must publish the final version of the National Register of Citizens (NRC), which aims to identify illegal immigrants, on August 31.

Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi said that the exercise must be completed regardless of objections from various sections. "There will be no end to criticism of our judgment every morning. Our orders, actions and judgments are debated every time. We refuse to go into (that)... Let them do what they want, but we want the NRC out by August 31," he added.

The top court also asked the NRC coordinator to submit a note on contentious issues, so orders in that regard can be passed on Tuesday.

Members of civil society groups as well as the opposition Congress have written to Chief Justice Gogoi, bringing to his notice the "panicky situation" created by "suspicious and mischievous" re-verification notices served by NRC authorities.

The authorities have launched a re-verification process for some of those who appeared in the draft NRC published last year. Many complained that it was taken up with little notice, giving them just 24 to 48 hours to appear for re-verification at NRC Seva Kendras located over 500 km away from their hometowns.

The fresh orders triggered panic as people boarded buses and hired vehicles to reach towns as far as Jorhat, Charaideo, Sivasagar and Golaghat. Four people were killed and over 40 injured in road accidents that allegedly occurred in their rush to reach the re-verification centres.

Social activists claim that the fresh re-verification orders are in violation of top court orders.

Until 2005, the Illegal Migrants (Determination by Tribunal) Act was used for verifying if the individuals in question were foreigners or Indians, with the onus of proving their citizenship falling completely on the state. With the Supreme Court scrapping the law in 2005, the authorities now want to know if clearances obtained under it before that year can still be considered valid.

The Supreme Court had extended the NRC deadline from July 31 to August 31 earlier this month.