Gauhati HC raps State over 3,000 bighas of tribal land given to private company for mining

The Gauhati High Court, last week, expressed shock and displeasure over the Assam government allotting around 3,000 bighas of land to a private cement company for the purpose of mining in the Dima Hasao region of Assam. The area falls within the 6th Scheduled District under the Constitution of India, where the priority has to be given to the rights and interests of the tribal people residing there, the court noted.

According to reports, the Assam government, in October last year, allotted 2,000 bigha of land to the private company, which is registered in Kolkata. A month later, another 1,000 bighas were given to the same firm, in an adjacent plot. In February 2025, the same firm had signed an MoU for investment worth ₹110 billion with Assam government during an investment summit.

Questioning the allotment, Bench of Justice Sanjay Kumar Medhi, while hearing the matter on August 12, orally remarked that the government’s decision of giving an ‘extraordinary’ chunk of land to Mahabal Cement Private Limited is the opposite of its objective, that is public interest.

‘Some kind of joke?’

“3,000 bighas! That is almost an entire district? We know how barren the land is... 3,000 bighas? What kind of decision is this? Is this some kind of joke or what? Your need is not the issue... the public interest is the issue,” the court noted.

The counsel representing the company submitted in the court that the land allotment to his client has been made according to a mining lease granted under a tender process. 

The court still directed the authorities of the North Cachar Hills Autonomous Council (NCHAC), also known as the Dima Hasao Autonomous Council — an autonomous district council in Assam — to obtain the records containing the policy to allot such a huge chunk of land to a factory.

“The aforesaid direction has been given by taking into account that the district is a 6th Scheduled District under the Constitution of India, where the priority has to be given to the rights and interests of the tribal people residing there. Further, the area involved is Umrangso in the district of Dima Hasao, which is known as an environmental hotspot containing hot springs, stopover for migratory birds, wild life etc.” court added.