SHILLONG, MAY 16: A legal notice was served to the Deputy Commissioner of Ri Bhoi district on Monday after the Supreme Court’s stay order against the October 15, 2015-order issued by the Meghalaya High Court on land acquisition and forceful eviction of residents.
The stay order issued by the Supreme Court on May 13 came following a petition filed by Billinda Lapang, R Sangma, headman of Pyllun village M Warbah and headman of Nongsder village, Welcome Shangpliang with regards to land acquisition, forcible eviction of residents and destruction of property.
At least 15 houses, 10 in Pyllun village and 5 in Nongsder village, were demolished allegedly without serving prior notices leading to displacement of settlers on May 5 and May 10 respectively.
In its order, the Supreme Court said, “Implementation of the impugned judgment (of the Meghalaya High Court on October 15, 2015) shall remain stayed.”
It may be mentioned, the Meghalaya High Court in its order had directed the Deputy Commissioner to invoke the urgency clause under Section 40 of the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013.
The High Court had taken suo-moto cognizance on the delay in completing the Shillong Airport expansion project.
The notice issued to the DC of Ri Bhoi District stated – “In the case of the residents who have been forcibly evicted and whose houses have been destroyed, you are required to restore back their possession along with reconstructing the demolished houses and not to disturb their peaceful possession of the land.”
A similar notice on the stay order was also served to the Birgade Commander of 24MTN BDE, Umroi Cantonment, Ri Bhoi District.
Addressing a news conference on Monday, counsel for the petitioners, Erwin K Sutnga said, “We have issued formal notices to the respondents which include the Deputy Commissioner of Ri Bhoi District.”
He said the recent demolition without serving any prior notices is in fact a violation of section 41 of the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013.
“The Act clearly stated that where such acquisition does take place it shall be done only as a demonstrable last resort. However in case of acquisition or alienation of any land in the Scheduled Areas, prior consent of the district council shall be obtained which in this instant case has been totally ignored by the district administration and state government,” Sutnga stated.
Citing that under the new act, tenants also have the right to rehabilitation, the counsel said, “The district administration has instead help illegal eviction by the land owners.”
According to him, the matter till today is not clear as to who had order the eviction drive whether it is on the part of the district administration or land owners.
He also said that the state government had the opportunity to appeal against the High Court order but unfortunately it failed.
Nongsder village headman, Welcome Shangphliang informed that the land measuring 10 – 11 acres in total falls under the jurisdiction of Pyllun and Nongsder villages which have been purchased by Patricia Nongsiej from one State Dkhar in 2014.
“Nongsiej and her husband then told the dorbar shnong that they intended to bring a state truck terminus, which was quite welcome to us,” said Shangphliang, who is also chairman of Joint Action Committee (JAC) to three villages – Nongsder, Pyllun and Mawpun.
He said on November last year the village authorities came to know that the landowner had intended to give away the land to the defence authority and immediately filed a complaint with the DC on December.
“The DC had expressed her inability to act on this matter. We therefore decided to file a petition with the District Council court, which has also issued a stay order against the proposed land acquisition,” Shangphliang said.
He said that suddenly on May 5, the landowner Patricia Nongsiej came along with 23 men and start demolishing the houses at Pyllun. On filing an FIR, police immediately arrested the landowner and her men.
Stating that a complaint was also lodged with the DC, the JAC chairman said, “We waited that the district administration will order inquiry but on May 10, the landowners – Nongsiej and Dkhar- along with magistrates and 200 personnel came and start demolishing the houses.”
He said that the DC informed that the land acquisition is for the purpose of exchanging it with the defence authority, which has earlier parted away their land for the Airport expansion project.
Interestingly while the defence authority had given away only 28 acres for Shillong Airport expansion project, the district administration however intended to exchange with approximately 32 acres of land to them, the petitioners’ counsel said.
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court has fixed the next date of hearing on the issue on July 4. According to Sutnga, the case is expected to receive a landmark judgment especially on how tribal lands should be treated.-By Our Reporter
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