Garo Hills Autonomous District Council bars non-tribals from buying land in Garo Hills

The Garo Hills Autonomous District Council (GHADC) has issued a notification prohibiting non-tribal persons from purchasing or claiming land in the Garo Hills districts of Meghalaya, invoking its constitutional powers under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution of India, officials said on March 6.

However, the council clarified that the status of land already legally held by non-tribal individuals will remain unchanged.

The council said the directive has been issued to safeguard, preserve and protect the land, customary rights and traditional ownership of indigenous tribal communities in the region and to prevent the alienation of such lands to non-tribal persons.

The Sixth Schedule provides for the administration of certain tribal areas as autonomous entities in four northeastern states—Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram.

According to the notification, no person belonging to a non-tribal community shall acquire, purchase, hold, possess, inherit, lease, mortgage, transfer or claim any right, title or interest over land situated within the Garo Hills districts.

It further stated that any transfer, settlement, mutation, registration or recognition of land in favour of a non-tribal person will not be considered valid and will not be acted upon by any authority.

The council has also prohibited benami transactions or arrangements where land is held in the name of a tribal person for the benefit of a non-tribal individual, stating that such holdings would be treated as void and unenforceable. Any right or possession obtained in violation of the notification will be liable to cancellation, resumption or restoration in accordance with the law.

However, the order will not affect non-tribal persons who had lawfully inherited or acquired ancestral property before the coming into force of the relevant land transfer regulations.

The council also stated that any land holding or transaction expressly sanctioned by the government or a competent authority under existing laws would remain valid, though such exempted properties cannot be further transferred without prior approval from the competent authority.

The notification has come into force with immediate effect.

The directive follows another notification issued by the council last month barring non-indigenous persons from contesting the elections to the GHADC scheduled to be held on April 10.