Following a petition filed by 47 residents accusing the state of disobeying the top court’s directive that no demolitions be done without the court’s approval, the Supreme Court today issued a contempt notice to the Assam government.
A bench made up of Justices BR Gavai and KV Viswanathan ordered the state to respond within three weeks and that the current situation be kept in place until the next hearing.
The petitioners claim that in spite of the Supreme Court’s previous order and the Assam Advocate General’s September 20 assurance to the Gauhati High Court that no legal action would be taken against them until their cases were settled, the authorities demolished their homes.
The case focuses on the use of bulldozers against 47 households in the Kamrup district of Assam, specifically in Kachutoli Pathar village and the surrounding areas. According to the petitioners, they have lived there for decades in accordance with agreements made with the original landowners. They disagree with the state’s designation of them as “illegal occupants” of tribal land, arguing that their occupation was allowed by existing agreements and that they have not broken any laws.
According to the petition, authorities disregarded legal protocols, such as the requirement to issue a month’s notice to vacate before serving them with an eviction notice. It further contends that the demolitions violated the residents’ fundamental rights under Articles 14, 15, and 21 of the Constitution, which protect their equality before the law as well as their right to life and personal liberty, since they were carried out without providing the residents with a fair hearing and depriving them of their homes and means of subsistence.
The Supreme Court, in an order on September 17, had banned all types of demolitions without prior judicial approval in public resources and water bodies across the country, except in cases related to encroachment. But despite this, the Assam authorities allegedly marked the houses of the petitioners for demolition without any notice, which led to the filing of the present contempt petition.
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