Staff Reporter
Guwahati: Based on a PIL questioning the quality of areca nuts being auctioned to multiple parties after the seizure, the Gauhati High Court has served notices to several parties, including the Government of Assam, the Principal Secretary of the Agriculture Department, the Director of Krishi Bhawan, the Director General of Police Assam, District Commissioners, and Superintendents of Police.
The PIL filed by Sujit Kumar Chanda raised a grievance that the state authorities, including the police authorities, have seized areca nuts from various individuals from time to time, and those seized areca nuts are put to auction for the public at large. It is contended that those areca nuts are not fit for human consumption, as evident from the Notice Inviting Tender (NIT) issued by the Superintendent of Police, Silchar, on July 12.
The advocate representing the petitioner has submitted that, taking into consideration the fact that the seized areca nuts are not fit for human consumption, the NIT should only allow the persons operating various industries to submit their bids and not any individual because there is a possibility that those purchased areca nuts through the NIT may be sold to the traders who may use the seized areca nuts for making the products consumed by the public at large.
Hearing the petition, the bench of the Gauhati High Court, comprising Chief Justice Vijay Bishnoi and Justice Kardak Ete, issues notices to the representatives of the Government of Assam, the Principal Secretary of the Agriculture Department, the Director of Krishi Bhawan, the Director General of Police Assam, and the District Commissioners and Superintendents of Police for Hailakandi and Cachar.
The respondents were told to file their response to the writ petition by the next date of hearing, which will be four weeks from this hearing.
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