SC halts Assam's Golaghat eviction drive; relief for 2,000 families after HC refusal

The Supreme Court, on Friday, August 22, ordered status quo on the large-scale demolition and eviction drive in Assam’s Golaghat district.

A bench Justices PS Narasimha and Atul S Chandurkar passed the interim order after the Guwahati High Court refused to protect the residents, around 2,000 Bengali Muslim families.

Assam demolition drive

On July 29, the Himanta-Biswa government launched a massive demolition drive in the Rengma Reserve Forest in Golaghat, alleging encroachment, targeting 2,648 houses across 12 villages. These villagers are predominantly Bengali-speaking Muslims and other communities such as Bodo, Nepali and Manipuri.

So far, 15,000 bighas (around 4,900 acres) have been reclaimed by the government. Over 3,500 families have been rendered displaced.

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The demolition drive was challenged in the Guwahati High Court, where petitioners claimed they have been residing in the affected areas for years and hold relevant documents such as electricity connections, ration cards, and inclusion in the electoral rolls.

The petitioners argued that the demolition drive directly violated the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013, along with the Assam Rules of 2015. They contended that the arbitrary demolition drive was an infringement of their fundamental right to live under Articles 14, 19, 21, 25, and 300-A of the Constitution.

On July 17, protests by locals against the demolition drive turned violent, leaving two deadand several others injured in police firing.

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