Guwahati, Aug 19: The Gauhati High Court has upheld the Assam government’s ongoing eviction drives in the state’s reserve forests, while directing authorities to establish strict mechanisms to prevent fresh encroachments, including penal action against forest officials found colluding in illegal entry.

A bench of Chief Justice Ashutosh Kumar and Justice Arun Dev Choudhury made it clear that “there can not be any question of permitting any encroacher to reside within the demarcated reserved forest land.”

The order came in response to a petition by 59 residents of Negheribill in Golaghat district, who challenged eviction notices issued for their settlement inside the Doyang Reserve Forest. While the court had earlier stayed the eviction of these families, 146 other households were already evicted during a demolition drive on August 8.

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma described the order as a “historic seal” on the government’s efforts.

“The court has gone a step further than the government. We carried out evictions but did not hold officers accountable. The order ensures that action will also be taken against officials under whose watch encroachments took place,” he said.

According to him, the Chief Justice made it clear that eviction in forest land must be backed by strong regulations, and those officers responsible during the period of encroachment must face action.

“Large-scale encroachment happened between 2006 and 2011. In Goalpara, for instance, the forest official under whose watch it occurred is now an advocate,” Sarma added.

The Chief Minister also highlighted another key aspect of the verdict—extending the duration of eviction notices from seven to 15 days and mandating that claims of revenue land ownership be duly acknowledged.

Rejecting the appellants’ claim that they had lived in houses once built with government funds, the court ruled that no such argument can override forest protection laws. It termed the state affidavit’s revelations—of betel nut cultivation and fisheries operating within the reserve—“shocking,” and called for a “total revamp” of monitoring mechanisms.

The court directed the state to set up checks at entry points, fence porous borders, and install functional check posts. It further warned that if collusion by forest staff or ministerial employees is proven, they must face strict penal action.

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