Gauhati HC quashes detention under NSA of land rights activist Pranab Doley

The Gauhati High Court on Friday quashed the detention of Assam land rights activist Pranab Doley who had been detained under provisions of National Security Act (NSA).The Assam government invoked the NSA against activist Pranab on July 28. (Image sourced form University of Arizona website)Details of the court order are awaited and the story will be updated once it is available.The Assam government invoked the NSA against activist Pranab on July 28, a day after a sessions court granted him bail in a case linked to protests against a luxury hotel project near Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve (KNPTR), preventing his release from custody.The government, in a communication to Doley said that 13 cases have been filed against him, accusing him of inciting hatred against the state, instigating violence between communities and obstructing officials from carrying out their duties, among other charges. The government said 13 police cases had been registered against him.Also Read:Assam police arrest land rights activist Pranab Doley over Kaziranga luxury hotel“It is therefore considered essential to prevent you from acting in any manner prejudicial to the security of the state or from acting in any manner prejudicial to the maintenance of public order by detaining you under Section 3(2) of the National Security Act, 1980,” the letter from the home and political department, seen by HT, mentioned.Doley was arrested on July 12, days after he took part in protests by activists and locals on June 28 at Ingle Pathar village near the UNESCO World Heritage Site against the proposed hotel project.In its FIR, police alleged that Doley and others “trespassed” into the site of the project “with pre-planned manner, being armed with deadly weapons like machete, sharp sticks, etc”, “attempted to set fire” to a cement mixer there, “injured 12 police personnel and outraged the modesty of women police officers on duty”, “instigated the crowd” and “threatened” further agitation, among other allegations.Granting bail to Doley on July 29, additional sessions judge (ASJ) Nur Muhammad Abdullah Ahmed said the dispute stemmed from “a deep-rooted anxiety regarding environmental degradation” and stated, “In matters where ecological preservation intersects with indigenous survival, the standard apparatus of criminal law cannot be used to suppress local anxieties. True public order is achieved not by silencing the affected, but by listening to them.”