India cannot swap land with Bangladesh despite signing a protocol to that effect at the highest level between the two countries without amending the Constitution and enacting a law, a Division Bench of the Gauhati High Court said here last week.
The verdict, given while a Division Bench comprising Chief Justice A K Goel and Justice N K Singh disposed of a PIL filed by Sujata Changkakoti, a lawyer by profession, has evoked strong reactions from opposition parties and other groups who were opposed to the land deal signed by the Prime Ministers of the two countries last year, reports the Indian Express.
The protocol was signed to enable the exchange of 111 Indian enclaves in Bangladesh and 51 Bangladeshi enclaves in Indian territory. This would have led to bringing an end to disputes at 25 points along the 4,156-km boundary, on which India adversely possesses 1,165.49 acres of Bangladesh land, while Bangladesh possesses 1,880.81 acres on the Indian side.
Opposition parties in Assam, who had last year opposed the land exchange deal, hailed the HC verdict saying it had vindicated their stand that the land deal protocol was not in tune with the Constitution.
“It was a deal which was signed not only without taking the people into confidence, but even by flouting the Constitution. We welcome the High Court verdict,” Durga Das Boro, general secretary of the Asom Gana Parishad, said here on Sunday. The state BJP unit too has hailed the verdict, with spokesperson Shantanu Bharali saying it had exposed an “unconstitutional” decision taken by the UPA government.
Assam CM Tarun Gogoi, who was part of the Indian delegation when PM Manmohan Singh had signed the protocol with his Bangladesh counterpart last year however said the land-swap deal would obviously take place only after the necessary constitutional amendments. “The deal has not yet been implemented because the necessary amendments are yet to be brought about,” Gogoi said.
Source: UNB Connect
