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The Gauhati High Court has made a very strict and scathing comment on the bulldozer action carried out by the district administration on 21 residential houses built on private agricultural land in Goalpara district of Assam. The court slammed the state government and the local administration for taking immediate action bypassing fair legal procedures and said that prima facie this step appears to be a gross abuse of law and administrative powers. Considering the seriousness of the matter, a single bench of Justice Devashish Baruah has issued a notice to the Assam government, the District Commissioner of Goalpara and the concerned circle officer and sought a detailed reply. The court particularly underlined that the manner in which people’s personal properties were frozen within 24 hours is a direct violation of the basic constitutional rights of the citizens.
The controversy began on September 5, 2026, when the circle officer of Matiya revenue area of Goalpara district served an extremely brief and hastily prepared notice to 21 landowners. In this notice, a strict ultimatum was given to all the affected families, directing them to demolish with their own hands the residential units and permanent structures located on their private agricultural lands within 24 hours, otherwise they would have to face serious administrative and legal action. Before these citizens could seek legal aid or challenge this arbitrary notice in a competent court, the administration arrived at the scene in the early hours of 7 September with a heavy police force and a convoy of bulldozers and reduced all 21 residential houses to piles of debris in the blink of an eye. All 21 petitioners among the victims, belonging to the Muslim community, approached the Gauhati High Court directly seeking justice after being made homeless.
After closely reviewing the arguments of the lawyers presented on behalf of the petitioners and the administrative orders, Justice Debashish Baruah used strong words in his order passed on September 11. The Justice clarified that there was no evidence from the files and available documents that there was any extraordinary emergency situation or threat of imminent disaster in the area that could justify extremely harsh and punitive action like demolishing civilian homes. The court bluntly said that prima facie the administration has openly misused the provisions of the Disaster Management Department Act, 2005 in this entire demolition process. Under the guise of laws meant for natural disasters and public safety, the administrative machinery bulldozed the private property of citizens, which is completely unacceptable and unfair from a judicial point of view.
In its order, the High Court, while making a detailed analysis of the land laws of the state, prominently cited the Assam Agricultural Land (Regulation of Reclassification and Transfer for Non-Agricultural Purpose) Act, 2015. As per the express statutory provisions of this State Law, if a person owns private agricultural land up to one bigha and builds his residential house thereon, he is not required to obtain any special administrative reclassification or separate official permission, provided the construction is limited to a two-storey structure. The fact also came to the notice of the court that in the notices issued by the local circle officer itself it was recorded that the leases of the concerned lands were in the legal ownership of the petitioners. When the land was private property of legitimate tenants and the limits of construction were protected under law, this arbitrary demolition by the administration raises serious questions on the rule of law.
During the hearing, Justice Baruah also took deep cognizance of the additional affidavit submitted by the petitioners before the court, in which photographs of houses destroyed by the bulldozer action, scattered household items and detailed details of financial loss have been placed on the record of the court. The judge has given the last opportunity to the District Commissioner of Goalpara and the Circle Officer of Matiya to file their formal reply on this additional affidavit. The High Court has made it clear that if it is proved in the accountability inquiry that the administrative authorities have carried out the demolition in a malicious and illegal manner by disregarding the law, then the Court will pass a strict verdict imposing huge compensation on the State Government and the guilty officials to compensate the financial and mental loss caused to the victims. The next hearing of this historic case has now been scheduled for October 13, 2026, on which the eyes of legal experts from the state and the country are fixed.