The Guwahati High Court objected to giving 3000 bighas of land to a private cement company (Mahabal cements) for mining at Dima Hasao, Assam. The court said- Dima Hasao comes under the sixth schedule of the constitution, where tribal rights should be kept first.
During the hearing, Justice Sanjay Kumar Medhi asked the lawyer- 3000 bighas, the entire district. What is this happening. We know how barren the land is. What is this decision? Is it a joke or something?
After this, the lawyer of the cement company told the court that the land was barren and it was needed to run the company. On this, Justice Medhi said- this is not your need, but a public interest issue.
The Guwahati High Court was hearing the petition of the villagers. A video of the August 12 hearing has also surfaced, in which Justice Sanjay can be seen expressing surprise. The next hearing of the case will be held on 1 September.
Company claims- land found on 30-year lease
Mahabal Cements in his petition demanded protection from the miscreants. Advocate G Goswami made arguments on behalf of the cement company. He said- We are not interested in taking anyone’s land. We are a cement company. Through the tender, we have received a mining lease for 30 years.
Advocate AI Kathar and A. Rongfar, who arrived on behalf of the tribals, said that the villagers should not be evicted from their land. After the hearing, the court said that it would investigate the process under which the land was allotted.
High court asked for a record of tender
The court did not pay attention to the arguments of the cement company’s lawyer. Also, asking for a policy with a policy to allot such a large part of 3000 bigha land to a factory. Apart from this, the court also said that Dima Hasao is Umrangaso in the district, which is considered the hotspot of the environment. Which has hot waterfalls. Migratory birds and wildlife also come here.
