Gauhati High Court seeks reply from Assam govt. on teen’s death in makeshift shelter

GUWAHATI

The Gauhati High Court has ordered the Assam government to file a reply regarding compensation sought for the death of a teenager, one of hundreds evicted during an anti-encroachment drive in June, in a makeshift shelter.

Aynal Haque, 19, died in a temporary shelter on August 1. His family was one of 600 evicted by western Assam’s Goalpara district administration during an operation to clear government land of alleged encroachers on June 16.

Members of these families, who claimed residency for several decades, were reportedly given a 48-hour notice to leave the Hasila Beel area.

In its order on November 14, the court of Justice Manish Choudhury directed six representatives of the Assam government to reply within four weeks to a petition seeking compensation for the death of the teenager due to “inhuman conditions” in the makeshift shelter, which “did not even have basic facilities”.

The respondents are Assam’s Chief Secretary, the Commissioner and Secretary of the State’s Revenue and Disaster Management Department, the Principal Secretary of the State’s Health and Family Welfare Department, the District Commissioner and the Superintendent of Police of Goalpara district, and the Joint Director of Health Services in the district.

“Aynal’s house was bulldozed on June 16 without the authorities issuing any notice,” Zunaid Khalid, one of seven advocates representing the victim, said.