As resistance to the proposed judicial township in Rangmahal grew, members of the Gauhati High Court Bar Association (GHCBA) started a three-day hunger strike on January 8 in protest of the government’s proposal to move the Gauhati High Court’s principal seat to North Guwahati. The protest began at 10 a.m. in front of the former High Court building in Uzan Bazar and was set to last for six hours every day. It comes after a resolution that was approved earlier this week at the Bar Association’s emergent extraordinary general meeting. The agitation is being led by K N Choudhury, president of the GHCBA.
In Rangmahal, on the northern bank of the Brahmaputra, the state government intends to construct a new High Court facility as part of a judicial township spanning 129 bighas, or more than 42.5 acres. On January 11, the Chief Justice of India is expected to lay the project’s foundation stone; the Bar Association has chosen to abstain from the event. The hunger strike was a “peaceful and democratic expression” of the GHCBA’s objection to the relocation, according to a statement. The Gauhati High Court Bar Association has reiterated its firm opposition to shifting the principal seat of the High Court from central Guwahati, urging advocates to boycott the foundation stone–laying ceremony.
Citing past resolutions and a members’ referendum, the association said its general body has consistently opposed the move and will continue its hunger strike on January 10 and 12. While the Assam cabinet has approved ₹479 crore for the first phase of a proposed judicial township as part of a Brahmaputra riverfront development plan, the Bar Association argues that relocating the court from its historic and existing connected complexes in Uzan Bazar would inconvenience lawyers and litigants, and has demanded an immediate halt to the project.
