SC stays Assam govt’s move to withdraw notification of Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary

Guwahati, Mar 14: Days after the Assam government formed a committee to withdraw notification constituting the Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary, the Supreme Court on Wednesday stayed the move.

A bench of Justices B.R. Gavai and Sandeep Mehta ordered, “The State government was not right in resolving to withdraw the notification dated March 17, 1998 notifying Pobitora wildlife sanctuary… We direct that no further steps be taken with respect to the withdrawal of the notification dated March 17, 1998 by the State.”

It may be mentioned that a day after Narendra Modi took a safari at Kaziranga National Park, the Assam Cabinet on March 10 withdrew the notification issued by the State Forest Department in 1998, saying that the notification was issued unilaterally by the Forest Department without consulting the Revenue Department or even the Chief Minister.

Speaking on the decision, the government said, “The rights of the affected people were not fully settled, especially people residing in the area before the issuance of the notification Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary in 1998, including people belonging to the deprived and marginalised section of the society such as SC/ST, etc.”

“The final notification encompasses some villages including Thengalbhanga, periodic patta land of No 1 Murkata, periodic patta land of Raja Mayong village which were to be excluded without setting the rights of the villagers who inhabited the area, belonging to SC/ST/OBC and marginalised communities and have been residing there even before independence,” the government said.