Gauhati High Court directs Assam government to file affidavit on decision of re-merger of four districts

The Gauhati High Court on March 14 directed Assam Government to file an affidavit within one month regarding the government’s decision to re-merge four districts of the state.

Hearing a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by a Congress leader Dr Sanju Baruah with regards to the merger of Biswanath district, the High Court made this observation that Assam Government should be held accountable for the merger of the districts.

The court also issued a show cause notice to the government and asked to provide the details of the decision within a month’s time.

It should be noted that the decision to merge four of the state's districts with its former districts was announced by the Assam government on December 31. At the Delhi meeting of the state cabinet, the decision was made.

Following the Election Commission's (EC) decision to begin delimitating Assembly and Parliamentary constituencies in Assam in accordance with Section 8A of the RP Act, 1950, the decision was made in accordance with the delimitation process.

Bajali district was merged with Barpeta district, Biswanath district was merged with Sonitpur district, Hojai district was merged with Nagaon district, and Tamulpur district was merged with Baksa district in accordance with the government's decision.

The four regions were to become sub-divisions, cutting down the quantity of locale in Assam from 35 to 31. Adding the North Guwahati Town Committee to the Kamrup Metropolitan district was also approved at the meeting.

Also read : Assam: Gauhati High Court directs private educational institutes to reserve 25 per cent seats for EWS students