DIMAPUR — Nagaland government has launched an
eviction drive to remove illegally occupied land designated for the expansion
of Dimapur Airport.
A press release issued by the commissioner of Nagaland on
Thursday informed that the eviction drive was prompted by a Gauhati High Court
judgement delivered on May 27, which upheld the state's eviction orders and
cleared the final legal hurdles for the long-delayed infrastructure project.
In its ruling, the High Court quashed previous court
injunctions that had stalled the process and then empowered the authorities to
proceed with removing unauthorised occupants from Dag Nos. 38 and 40 of
Diphuphar village.
The complex legal dispute dates back to a land allotment
made to an individual named Atoshe. According to the government statement,
Atoshe was initially allotted land under Dag No. 79 (97) at Ekaranipathar
village.
However, he allegedly altered the records to reflect Dag No.
97 without any formal government approval—an act in violation of the
government’s 1992 blanket ban on land allotments. A letter issued by the Land
Revenue Department in 2019 confirmed that there was no official record of such
an allotment.
Consequently, the commissioner of Nagaland cancelled
Atoshe’s allotment in November 2019. The land claims of 22 other individuals,
which were based on Atoshe’s now-cancelled patta (land deed), were also
subsequently nullified by the deputy commissioner of Dimapur.
When they failed to respond to hearing notices, eviction
orders were issued on December 21, 2019, under the Nagaland Eviction of Persons
in Unauthorised Occupation of Public Land Act, 1971.
While the eviction order remained unchallenged, its
enforcement was stayed by an interim order from the Gauhati High Court in
January 2020. The petitioners had claimed they were not challenging the
eviction itself but were seeking to reverse the cancellation of Atoshe’s
allotment and their pattas.
The advocate general of Nagaland later secured a
clarification from the High Court on December 4, 2020, which stated that the
petitioners could not claim rights over land in Diphuphar village based on a
disputed allotment in Ekaranipathar. Following this, the petitioners withdrew
their writ petition, and the deputy commissioner issued fresh eviction orders
on December 11, 2020.
Subsequent attempts to block the eviction through the Civil
Court in Dimapur were also dismissed, prompting the state government to file
civil revision petitions before the High Court.
In CRP No. 105 of 2024, which was filed against a civil suit
by Atoshe who claimed he owned land in Dag Nos. 40/100 and 117, the High Court
decided that it couldn't stop the eviction for land that was taken for
infrastructure development under Section 41 (ha) of the Specific Relief Act.
The court declared Atoshe a trespasser and highlighted his failure to disclose
that his land patta had been cancelled back in 2005.
In CRP No. 104 of 2024, which dealt with 13 individuals who
had filed a civil suit against their eviction, the court underscored the
discrepancy between the claimed land in Ekaranipathar and the illegally
occupied land in Diphuphar. It concluded that the petitioners had no legal
standing over the disputed property.
“This landmark judgement by the Gauhati High Court validates
the actions taken by the commissioner, Nagaland, and deputy commissioner,
Dimapur, reaffirming the state government's authority to reclaim land essential
for public development projects. Accordingly, the state government proceeded
with the eviction drive to ensure the unhindered expansion of Dimapur Airport,”
it stated.
Dimapur Police clamp prohibitive order
Citing a reasonable apprehension of resistance or other
forms of physical obstruction, Commissioner of Police Dimapur, Kevithuto
Sophie, has imposed prohibitive measures prescribed under Section 163 of
Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023, to be read with the Nagaland
government notification dated December 17, 2004.
Consequently, it has prohibited the “assembly of five or
more persons, or carrying lethal weapons or firearms—including lathis, daggers,
machetes, sticks, spears, catapults or any other dangerous articles—within the
jurisdiction of the area bounded under east: Chathe River/ Nihoto, west:
Airport boundary, north: Ekranipathar, south: Diphupar (173rd Bn CRPF Camp).”
“This order shall come into effect from 8 pm of the 12th day
of June, 2025, and shall remain in effect until 6 pm of the 13th day of June,
2025, unless withdrawn earlier,” it stated.
