SHILLONG, July 16: The Supreme Court issued a notice to the Assam State Transport Corporation (ASTC) on Friday for alleged encroachment of the land of one Newyearly Thangkhiew, who is a resident of Them Marwet, Umling Community & Development Block, in Ri-Bhoi district.
After hearing her counsel Pragyan Pradip Sharma, along with Junior Luwang and Gurnoor Kaur, a two-judge bench of Justice S Abdul Nazeer and Justice Krishna Murari issued the notice.
The petitioner had raised the issue of border dispute between Assam and Meghalaya as well as issues pertaining to the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution. She said the issues posed a direct threat to her and her family’s livelihood.
The petitioner alleged the ASTC had encroached upon the land of Meghalaya and started constructing a depot on a piece of land that she owns.
She claimed it is a tribal land, governed by the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution. She said if the land is allowed to be encroached upon and retained by the state of Assam, it will result in the conversion of tribal land to non-tribal land.
The ASTC recently started constructing a building on a 30,000 sq ft land at the site in question.
The petition raised issues of public importance about the livelihood of people affected by inter-state boundary issues. Some 100 families live on the Meghalaya side of the interstate border there.
