On Friday, the Gauhati High Court instructed the Assam Government to refrain from issuing any notifications that would revoke the status of the Deepor Beel Wildlife Sanctuary.

The division bench of Chief Justice Vijay Bishnoi and Justice Suman Shyam noted:

“…once the notification declaring the Deepor Beel as Wildlife Sanctuary has been affirmed by the Division Bench of this Court and a SLP filed against the decision of the Division Bench is pending consideration in the Hon'ble Supreme Court, we are of the view that any decision to de-notify the Deepor Beel Wildlife Sanctuary is not warranted at this stage.”

The bench was addressing an Interim Application filed within a Public Interest Litigation (PIL), requesting a directive to the relevant authority to halt land filling activities in the Deepor Beel area and to prohibit any construction within or near the Deepor Beel site until the demarcation notification of the Ramsar Site of Deepor Beel, along with the notification for its Eco-sensitive Zone as mandated by the Wetland (Conservation and Management) Rules, 2017, is issued.

The petition also sought the submission of records concerning the Cabinet's decisions regarding the establishment or pending approval of the Eco-sensitive Zone of Deepor Beel.

The petitioner's Counsel informed the court that on March 27, 2024, the State Cabinet had made a decision to revoke the designation of the Deepor Beel Wildlife Sanctuary.

It was noted that while the Cabinet had indeed decided to de-notify the Deepor Beel Wildlife Sanctuary, no official notification has been issued yet due to procedural requirements. These include obtaining prior permission from the State Board of Wildlife and the National Board of Wildlife, as well as seeking prior approval from the Honorable Supreme Court.

The Court noted that the State Government had designated Deepor Beel as a Wildlife Sanctuary through a notification in 2009. However, this notification was contested in the High Court through W.P.(C) No. 4113/2009, and a single judge bench invalidated the said notification dated February 21, 2009, through a decision dated December 21, 2017.

The bench further noted that the decision of the single judge had been appealed by the State of Assam before the division bench. The division bench, in its judgment dated March 24, 2023, issued in W.A. No. 02/2018, overturned the single judge's decision by accepting the State's appeal.

“Now suddenly the State Government has come up with the stand that in the year 2009, when the Deepor Beel Wildlife Century was notified, certain formalities, which was mandatory in nature, had not been carried out. It is informed that against the decision of the Division Bench of this Court on 24-03-2023, passed in W.A. No. 02/2018, a SLP is pending adjudication before the Hon'ble Supreme Court,” the Court remarked.

Therefore, the Court directed the State government to refrain from issuing any notification revoking the designation of the Deepor Beel Wildlife Sanctuary, unless otherwise ordered by the Supreme Court.

Case Title: Pramod Kalita & 2 Ors. v. The Union of India & 17 Ors.

Case No.: I.A. (Civil)/924/2024