Authorities in Assam’s Goalpara district demolished 73 homes belonging to Muslim families during an eviction drive in the Krishnai area on September 7. The operation covered several villages under the Matia Revenue Circle, where bulldozers and excavators were used amid a heavy police presence. According to officials, the families had purchased the land, but the plots were classified as agricultural and the residents allegedly constructed houses without obtaining the required permission for changing the land use to residential. The affected families, however, maintained that they were living on legally owned private land and possessed valid land documents.
The demolition followed notices asking residents to remove their houses within just 24 hours. District authorities defended the action by saying that uncontrolled residential construction on agricultural land could affect farming areas, wetlands and natural drainage. Residents and local organisations questioned the decision, arguing that ownership of the land was not disputed and that families should have been given sufficient opportunity to respond before their homes were demolished. The controversy subsequently reached the Gauhati High Court, where 21 affected residents challenged the action taken by the authorities.
The Gauhati High Court raised serious questions about the procedure followed before the demolitions. The court observed that the action against houses standing on private patta land appeared prima facie illegal and unauthorised, particularly because residents were not given a proper opportunity to be heard. It also asked the Assam authorities to explain what “imminent danger” justified such urgent action. The court restrained officials from taking further action on the petitioners’ land pending further consideration of the case. The dispute has therefore shifted from a land-use issue to a wider examination of property rights, due process and administrative powers in Assam.
