Staff Reporter
Guwahati: The Gauhati High Court directed the Additional Advocate General of Assam and Senior Government Advocate of Arunachal Pradesh to file their responses and also apprise the Court about the steps taken to free the Reserved Forests along the Assam-Arunachal border from encroachment.
The direction was passed in a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) seeking urgent intervention to stop continuing encroachment, deforestation and illegal construction in Reserved Forests along the Assam-Arunachal Pradesh inter-state border.
A bench comprising Chief Justice Ashutosh Kumar and Justice Arun Dev Choudhury heard the matter (PIL/46/2026) highlighting large-scale encroachment in reserved forests along the Assam-Arunachal Pradesh inter-state border in Sonitpur, Biswanath, Lakhimpur and Dhemaji districts, with the worst-affected areas being the Behali Reserved Forest and Singlijan Reserved Forest (RF) in the Biswanath district.
According to the petition, approximately 6,733 hectares of Behali RF and 450 hectares of Singlijan RF have been encroached upon. The petitioner alleged that entire villages have been established inside forest land, and permanent constructions with civic amenities have come up.
It was submitted that such constructions with civic amenities inside RFs violate Articles 14, 21, 48A and 51A(g) of the Constitution as well as the Forest Conservation Act, 1980; Wildlife Protection Act, 1972; Environment Protection Act, 1986; and Assam Forest Regulation, 1981.
The petitioner's counsel argued that there is no legislative vacuum in providing powers to the state to evacuate such encroachers, but such powers are not being utilised, for reasons not known to the petitioner.
The Court directed the Additional Advocate General of Assam and the Senior Government Advocate of Arunachal Pradesh to respond to this petition positively by the next date and also apprise the Court about the steps taken to make the said Reserved Forests encroachment-free, re-notifying the matter for October 5, 2026.
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