Assam: Gauhati High Court quashes NSA detention of land rights activist Pranab Doley

STAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI: The Gauhati High Court on Friday quashed the preventive detention of indigenous land rights activist Pranab Doley under the National Security Act (NSA), 1980, citing procedural lapses and violations of constitutional safeguards.

A Division Bench set aside the detention order, observing that the grounds cited for invoking the stringent law lacked proximity and that mandatory procedural requirements had not been complied with. Advocate Dipesh Kumar Agarwala, who appeared for Doley, confirmed the development. However, a copy of the detailed judgment was not immediately available.

Doley was arrested in Guwahati on July 13 following his participation in a protest against a proposed five-star hotel project at Ingle Pathar village near Kaziranga National Park. He was subsequently lodged in Golaghat District Jail. He was granted bail on July 29 in connection with a case relating to the protest held in June. However, the Assam government invoked the NSA against him the following day, resulting in his continued detention.

The preventive detention order was issued under Section 3(2) of the National Security Act, 1980, directing that Doley remain lodged in Golaghat District Jail.

Doley had been at the forefront of protests against the proposed hotel project near Kaziranga National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. He and other activists had raised concerns over its potential impact on the region's fragile ecology, as well as the land rights and livelihoods of indigenous communities living around the protected area.

His detention had drawn criticism from several indigenous organisations and international groups, which expressed solidarity with the activist and questioned the use of preventive detention laws against those campaigning for land and environmental rights.

Also Read: Assam records sharp decline in maternal deaths from sepsis after infection-control measures