Lawyers begin hunger strike against Gauhati High Court move to Amingaon

Guwahati, Jan 8: Members of the Gauhati High Court Bar Association (GHCBA) commenced a three-day, six-hour hunger strike on Thursday against the government's move to shift the court complex to North Guwahati’s Amingaon.

The hunger strike, led by the GHCBA president KN Choudhury, began at 10 am in front of the old building of the Gauhati High Court, as part of a decision in an emergent Extra-Ordinary General meeting held on Tuesday.

“As a peaceful and democratic expression of its considered stand, the Gauhati High Court Bar Association shall observe a peaceful hunger strike," the Association had said in a statement on Wednesday.

The hunger strike will continue on January 9 and 11, excluding Saturday, with the GHCBA also deciding to abstain from the foundation stone–laying ceremony of the new judicial complex scheduled for January 11 at Rangmahal in Amingaon.

The statement further added that the association has decided to abstain from participating in the proposed foundation stone laying ceremony.

“All learned members of the Bar are earnestly appealed to and respectfully requested to kindly honour and adhere to the collective decision of the General Body," the statement said.

The GHCBA has been vehemently opposing the relocation of the high court complex to the northern bank of the Brahmaputra from the existing place at the heart of the Guwahati city.

The government is planning to construct the new judicial township at Rangmahal, spread across 129 bighas (over 42.5 acres) of land.

In November last year, the state cabinet had approved Rs 479 crore in the first phase to construct a judicial township in North Guwahati.

Earlier, GHCBA had demanded an immediate halt to the project in the interest of all stakeholders and the public at large.

The Gauhati High Court is presently located in the Uzan Bazar area of central Guwahati on the southern bank of the Brahmaputra.

It has a historical building, while a state-of-the-art multi-crore modern multi-storey structure was constructed and inaugurated a few years ago.

Both the buildings are located face-to-face on two sides of Mahatma Gandhi Road and are connected through an underground tunnel, having escalator facilities.

The Assam government is seeking to develop the riverfront of the Brahmaputra, for which it requires to acquire the high court land.

PTI