Gauhati HC stays Kachutali evictions after residents claim to have land titles

The Gauhati High Court on Friday stayed the eviction of several families from a plot of land in Kachutali village in Assam’s Kamrup Metropolitan district after the residents said that they had titles to it.

The bench of Justice Devashis Baruah was hearing the residents’ petition challenging an eviction notice issued by the district administration on September 13. Baruah directed the residents to prove their case before the district’s deputy commissioner.

The stay order was issued after the state government told the court that no action would be taken against the families till the deputy commissioner of Kamrup Metropolitan had decided on the residents’ pleas.

The eviction notice alleged that the residents were in “illegal” possession of the land and were “unauthorised” to claim the plot as it was meant for those belonging to the Scheduled Tribes, as per the Assam Land and Revenue Regulation. It ordered them to vacate the land within three days.

Officials from the district administration on September 9 had already bulldozed nearly 240 homes, the majority of them belonging to Bengali-origin Muslims from Morigaon district. The residents had built their homes in the low-lying area over several decades.

Three days later, on September 12, the officials returned and gave them an ultimatum to vacate the land in...

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