Guwahati: A day after a local court granted bail to indigenous rights activist Pranab Doley, the Assam government placed him under the National Security Act (NSA), drawing sharp criticism from the Congress, which accused the state of bypassing the judicial process.
Doley was arrested for backing villagers who had opposed a proposed five-star resort at Ingle Pathar in Hatikhuli, near Kaziranga National Park. Since 2022, indigenous residents of Golaghat have been protesting the project and have also moved the Gauhati High Court, alleging that the land was taken from them forcibly.
Congress general secretary in charge of communications Jairam Ramesh on Sunday said the use of the NSA against Doley amounted to a misuse of preventive detention laws and reflected state overreach. According to him, the move was made after the activist had already been granted bail by a sessions court in a separate criminal case, s reported by The New Indian Express.
In a post on X, Ramesh said the Assam government invoked the NSA against Doley on July 30, only a day after the sessions court ordered his release on bail. He alleged that the detention was intended to ensure that the activist remained in custody despite the court’s order.
Ramesh said Doley had been supporting villagers who were opposing a proposed five-star resort project, which he alleged was backed by the Assam government. He added that indigenous residents of Golaghat district had been protesting since 2022, claiming their land had been forcibly acquired, and noted that the dispute is also pending before the Gauhati High Court.
Ramesh drew attention to the July 29 bail order, in which the sessions court observed that “where ecological preservation intersects with indigenous survival, criminal law cannot be used to suppress legitimate local anxieties”. He contended that the subsequent invocation of the NSA was inconsistent with that judicial observation and effectively reproduced the very concern the court had sought to guard against.
He also said the detention order relied on “vague and speculative allegations”, including claims of “suspicious foreign transactions from doubtful sources”, and said such accusations fit what he described as a recurring pattern of targeting dissent.
The Congress leader further accused BJP-led governments of increasingly resorting to extraordinary laws to silence protests and opposition. Citing Uttar Pradesh, he said the NSA had also been used against labour activists protesting over working conditions in Noida.
Describing the Assam government’s actions as “utter disregard for the rule of law and democratic dissent,” Ramesh said the Supreme Court and several high courts had repeatedly warned against using preventive detention laws to sidestep bail orders or extend incarceration.