The Assam government has told the Gauhati High Court that the public interest litigation challenging the re-engagement of retired Indian Forest Service officer M.K. Yadava as Special Chief Secretary (Forest) is not maintainable and that the decision followed state guidelines. The court will hear PIL No. 57 of 2026 on Friday, November 6, 2026.
In an affidavit-in-opposition, Personnel Department Deputy Secretary Bijit Kumar Borthakur urged the court to dismiss activist Rohit Choudhury’s petition. The petition challenges the February 16, 2024 Office Memorandum, the May 13, 2026 Cabinet decision and the May 14, 2026 notification re-engaging Yadava. It also challenges his permission to divert forest land in Geleky Reserved Forest in Sivasagar and Innerline Reserved Forest in Hailakandi for Assam Police commando battalion camps.
The government said Choudhury had earlier challenged the same engagement in PIL No. 18 of 2025, dismissed on March 18, 2025. It argued that service-matter PILs are generally not maintainable except for quo warranto, which the petitioner had abandoned and replaced with a certiorari plea. It added that Choudhury is neither a member of the relevant cadre nor a candidate for the post and lacks locus standi.
Defending the 2024 memorandum, the department said it did not remove substantive safeguards for re-employing retired officers, including the requirement of exceptional circumstances and satisfactory performance. The change only altered procedure: proposals approved by the Chief Minister need not go to the State Empowered Committee beforehand, though the committee must be informed. The government said the Cabinet approved Yadava’s latest re-engagement on May 13, 2026; his contract pays last pay and allowances minus pension and can be terminated with one month’s notice.
On forest diversion, the affidavit said Yadava, then Principal Chief Conservator of Forests and Head of Forest Force, permitted 28 hectares in Geleky on November 15, 2022, and 11.5 hectares at Damchera in Innerline on September 28, 2023, under the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980, before the amended Van (Sanrakshan Evam Samvardhan) law took effect on December 1, 2023. The Centre gave Stage-I approval on January 21, 2025, and final Stage-II approval on February 20, 2025; Geleky’s diversion was reduced to 26.1 hectares. The government said the camps protect forests facing encroachment and armed aggression. It claimed nearly 4,000 of Geleky’s 5,929 hectares were encroached, while Innerline lost 6,304 hectares of tree cover from 2001 to 2023. It cited a July 26, 2021 attack in Innerline in which six Assam Police personnel were killed and the SP was permanently disabled.
The government accused the petitioner of suppressing the National Green Tribunal’s final order of May 30, 2025, which noted that the required Forest (Conservation) Act clearance existed for Assam Police Housing Corporation Limited. It rejected any link between the Geleky diversion and July 2026 floods, attributing them to heavy rain, a rising Doikhana river, an embankment breach and water from Nagaland. It alleged the PIL aimed to damage Yadava’s reputation and noted a separate petition by Amarjyoti Choudhury, adjourned by Justice Sanjay Medhi to November 11, 2026.
Original Source: https://nenow.in/north-east-news/assam/assam-govt-defends-m-k-yadavas-re-engagement-tells-gauhati-hc-pil-not-maintainable.html
Category: Assam,Environment,Top News
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Publish Date: 2026-11-05 23:43:00
