Gauhati: The Gauhati High Court on Friday, November 6, quashed the preventive detention of Assam-based Indigenous rights activist Pranab Doley under the National Security Act (NSA), bringing a major legal development in a case that began with protests against a proposed luxury hotel near Kaziranga National Park.
Doley, who convenes the Greater Kaziranga Land and Human Rights Protection Committee, was arrested on July 12 in connection with protests against a proposed luxury hotel at Inglay Pathar in Golaghat district. Local opposition to the project centred on concerns over land rights, environmental consequences and the implications of commercial development for communities living around Kaziranga.
His continued detention took a different turn on July 29, when a sessions court in Golaghat granted him bail. However, the relief proved short-lived. On July 30, the Assam government invoked the NSA against him, ensuring that he remained in custody despite the bail order.
The state government's decision to invoke the preventive detention law had placed Doley's continued incarceration beyond the ordinary criminal proceedings in which he had secured bail.
The NSA empowers authorities to detain individuals without trial for up to 12 months under specified circumstances involving national security and public order.
The High Court's decision now sets aside the preventive detention order. The reasoning behind the ruling will become clearer once the written judgment is made available.