The Congress on Sunday accused the Assam government of misusing the National Security Act (NSA) by invoking the preventive detention law against land rights activist Pranab Doley a day after a district court granted him bail, alleging that the move was aimed at circumventing the judicial process.
Congress general secretary in-charge of communications Jairam Ramesh described the action as a “blatant misuse of preventive detention laws” and an instance of state overreach.
In a post on X, Ramesh said the Assam government invoked the NSA against Doley on July 30, just a day after a Sessions Court granted him bail in a criminal case. He alleged that the detention was intended to keep the activist behind bars despite the court's order.
Doley was arrested on July 12 in connection with a case registered at Bokakhat Police Station after he participated in protests against the proposed construction of luxury hotels near Kaziranga National Park.
Jairam Ramesh said Doley had been supporting villagers opposing a proposed five-star resort project allegedly backed by the Assam government.
He said that indigenous residents of Golaghat district had been protesting against the project since 2022, alleging that their land had been forcibly acquired. The matter, he said, is also before the Gauhati High Court.
Referring to the July 29 bail order, Ramesh quoted the Sessions Court as observing that “where ecological preservation intersects with indigenous survival, criminal law cannot be used to suppress legitimate local anxieties”. He alleged that the subsequent invocation of the NSA amounted to doing precisely that.
The Congress leader further claimed that the detention order relied on “vague and speculative allegations”, including accusations of “suspicious foreign transactions from doubtful sources”, and alleged that such claims followed a familiar pattern of targeting dissent.
Ramesh also accused BJP-ruled governments of increasingly using extraordinary laws to curb protests and dissent. He cited similar instances in Uttar Pradesh, where, the NSA had been invoked against labour activists protesting working conditions in Noida.
Alleging that the Assam government had shown “utter disregard for the rule of law and democratic dissent”, Ramesh said the Supreme Court and several High Courts had repeatedly cautioned against using preventive detention laws to bypass judicial orders granting bail or prolong incarceration.
Doley has been campaigning against the alleged allotment of land at Ingle Pathar in Hatikhuli near Kaziranga to a hospitality company following its reported reclassification.
