Gauhati High Court quashes preventive detention of Assam rights activist Pranab Doley under NSA

Guwahati: The Gauhati High Court on Friday quashed the preventive detention of Assam rights activist Pranab Doley under the National Security Act (NSA), maintaining that the detention order was "vitiated and not sustainable on facts and in law".

Doley was arrested in July under the stringent law.

A division bench of justices Kalyan Rai Surana and Susmita Phukan Khaund was hearing the case.


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Doley was arrested in Guwahati on July 12 in connection with protests against a proposed luxury hotel at Inglay Pathar near Kaziranga National Park in Golaghat district. He was lodged in Golaghat district jail and secured bail from a district court on July 29. However, the state government invoked the NSA against him the following day, resulting in his continued detention.

The court also observed that the authorities had "not applied their minds" to whether ordinary laws were sufficient to deal with his activities.

“The High Court has quashed Pranab Doley’s detention on three grounds. First, the allegations relied upon by the detaining authority were not proximate. Second, the materials on which the detention order was based were not supplied to Doley. Third, the representation submitted by the detainee was not disposed of. These are essential procedural safeguards guaranteed under Article 22 of the Constitution of India, and their violation has led the court to quash the detention order,” Senior advocate Santanu Borthakur said.

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Meanwhile, Doley has been released from Golaghat jail following the HC order. "He was released in the evening," Borthakur said.

Doley is associated with Greater Kaziranga Land and Human Rights Protection Committee. He has been spearheading protests against the proposed hotel near the UNESCO World Heritage Site Kaziranga National Park, alleging the project poses a threat to the area's fragile ecology, besides being vocal against steps perceived as detrimental to indigenous people and rights.


— With Agency Inputs