Gauhati High Court Quashes NSA Detention of Kaziranga Activist Pranab Doley

Guwahati: A division bench of the Gauhati High Court has quashed the preventive detention of indigenous land rights activist Pranab Doley under the National Security Act (NSA), today, ordering his release after 117 days in custody.

The bench, comprising Justices Kalyan Rai Surana and Susmita Phukan Khaund, set aside the Assam government's detention order on Friday following a legal challenge that had been reserved for judgment since October 14.

The high court ruled that the state authorities failed to establish a direct, proximate link between Doley's current environmental advocacy and the 13 past criminal cases cited by the police, in 11 of which he had already been acquitted or discharged.

Furthermore, the bench noted severe procedural lapses, highlighting that the government withheld essential defense documents from Doley and neglected to consider his second formal representation against the detention. According to his defense lawyer, Dipesh Agarwala, the prominent Mising community leader is expected to be released from the Golaghat district jail within a day or two.

Doley—convener of the Greater Kaziranga Land and Human Rights Protection Committee—was initially arrested on July 12 amid protests against a planned Hyatt luxury hotel near Kaziranga National Park.

Though granted bail on July 29, the Assam government invoked the NSA the following day to prolong his detention. Local indigenous families have long opposed the project, defending their generational agricultural lands.

The invocation of the NSA sparked widespread domestic and international criticism, with opposition lawmakers, UN experts, and global indigenous groups condemning the move to treat environmental activism as a national security threat.

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