‘Submit land rights proof in 10 days or vacate’: Gauhati HC to Golaghat forest occupants

Guwahati, August 7: The Gauhati High Court has directed those facing eviction from Doyang and South Nambar forests in Assam's Golaghat district to submit proof of land rights within 10 days or vacate the land.

Chief Justice Ashutosh Kumar, hearing the petition of 74 people claiming they have been in possession of the land since the time of their forefathers, also directed the state advocate general to submit an affidavit by a forest officer stating that the appellants have been residing in the reserved forest area without any entitlement and are liable to be evicted forthwith.

The petitioners challenged the issuance of notices by the district authority asking them to vacate their land within seven days, alleging that such action of the respondents is in contravention of certain provisions of the Assam Land and Revenue Regulation, 1886 and the Assam Land Policy, 2019 as also the guidelines of the Supreme Court's order of December 13, 2024.

A group of 59 people and another group of about 15 people had filed two separate petitions and both the appeals were taken up together for hearing since the issues involved in these appeals are identical and related to the eviction of encroachers from reserved forest areas.

The contention of the appellants in these appeals is that no procedure has been followed for their eviction from their houses, which had been allocated to them under some scheme of the government in the past.

The court observed that no documentary evidence had been submitted to support these claims.

"However, in order to satisfy ourselves that the appellants are not forcefully and illegally evicted from their place of residence, we permit them to bring on record any document to establish the claim of their having been allocated land in the reserved forest area for the construction of houses," the chief justice observed.

The state advocate general, however, contested the petitioners' submission and stated that the appellants are encroachers in the reserve forests, namely, Doyang and South Nambar reserve forests.

He submitted that after the notification converting the forests to reserved forests and its proclamation by the officer concerned, any non-forest activity in reserved forests would be a criminal offence for which a penalty has been provided under the Assam Forest Regulation, 1891.

He further submitted that approximately 29 lakh bighas (around 9.5 lakh acres) of land in the reserved forests in the entire state have been occupied by encroachers and with the drive undertaken by the government for removing such encroachers, more than one lakh bighas (around 33,000 acres) of land has been cleared of encroachment.

The advocate general contended that none of the appellants are flood-affected or landless, or forest dwellers, but are squatters and encroachers who, by their continuous illegal activities, have been damaging the natural habitat of wildlife.

The court extended the time given to them to clear the forest area or submit documentary evidence of their land rights by another 10 days, to be counted from August 5, the day the order was passed, and till then no coercive steps shall be taken against the appellants.

The court fixed the next date of hearing on August 14.

PTI