GUWAHATI
The Gauhati High Court has directed the Assam government to resettle the people who were evicted from Darrang district’s Gorukhuti area in September 2021, within six months.
A resistance to the eviction drive led to the death of two people in police firing, while more than 20 people, including policemen, were injured.
The petition was filed by Congress MLA Debabrata Saikia on Wednesday.
An official of the State’s Revenue Department said the affected people were trespassers under the provisions of the Assam Revenue Code of 1886, and were liable to be evicted but the government had taken care of some 600 evicted families in a specified area.
The court asked the State government to resettle 100 other families.
The State government also assured the court that no coercive measures had been taken against the remaining “encroachers” who were being convinced to move from government land to a demarcated area, on their own.
“All the same, as and when such (coercive) measures are adopted, the petitioner would be at liberty to move an application before this court,” the court said.
All the evicted families are Bengali-speaking or Bengal-origin Muslims.
Published - January 26, 2023 07:10 pm IST
