GUWAHATI, June 3 - Delay in finding a suitable ground for holding protest activities in Guwahati might leave the government in a tight spot with the Lawyers� Association, Guwahati, planning a contempt petition against the government for missing the deadline fixed by the High Court to find an alternating location instead of the bank of Dighalipukhuri.
The second deadline fixed by the court in this regard got over on April 30 this year, but nothing concrete has come up till date on the matter. Though the district administration was supposed to allot a plot of land in Betkuchi area specifically for holding picketing, demonstrations etc., no formal declaration has been made in this regard.
�The entire effort is to ease the traffic congestion due to the dharna and protests at Dighalipukhuripar. Public inconvenience caused by such activities in the heart of Guwahati city is increasing day by day,� Association president Sailen Das said.
The Association had filed a PIL in this regard in September last year, after which the court had asked the administration to shift the venue to some other suitable location and gave an interim period of three months to find the location.
�After 3 months, the administration, however, asked for another 6 months� time to find the location. A letter was produced before the court suggesting that the government was working on the proposal to convert a plot of land in Betkuchi as the protest ground. After we raised objection about giving six months� time to the government, the court granted another 3 months to the government till April 30 to find the location,� Das added.
The court had made it clear that no further time would be given to the administration. �Even a month after the deadline, the government is yet to take any action on this matter,� added the LAG president.
