New Delhi: The Supreme Court has granted interim stay on a massive eviction drive being carried out by the Assam government in Uriamghat and the adjoining villages of the state’s Golaghat district citing a Gauhati high court order.The Supreme Court bench in its August 22 order said,“Issue notice… Pending disposal of the special leave petition, the parties shall maintain status quo.”The bench comprising justices P.S. Narasimha and A.S. Chandurkar passed the order on a special leave petition filed by Abdul Khaleq and affected families. The petition had challenged the concurrent orders of the high court on August 5 and 18, which had refused grant relief to the petitioners.As per news reports, senior advocate Chandra Uday Singh and advocate on record Adeel Ahmed appeared on behalf of the petitioners and challenged the Gauhati high court’s refusal to protect the “long-settled residents – many of whom have been in uninterrupted occupation for over seven decades, with documentary recognition by the state – from forcible eviction without due process, rehabilitation or settlement inquiry as mandated under the Assam Forest Regulation, 1891, the Forest Rights Act, 2006, and binding constitutional safeguards.”“The petitioners are permanent residents of the villages situated in Golaghat district, Assam, namely No 2 Negheribill, Gelajan, Bidyapur, Rajapukhuri, Uriamghat and adjoining areas. Their forefathers settled there more than seven decades ago, and over the years, the petitioners and their families constructed permanent and semi-permanent houses, cultivated agricultural lands…”, the petition stated.Also read: Photos | Over 2,000 Miya Muslim Families Uprooted by Assam Govt’s Proposed Thermal Plant in DhubriIt also said that the residents were granted electricity connections, ration cards, Aadhar numbers and “have been continuously enrolled in the electoral rolls of their constituency.”“Many were also sanctioned housing assistance under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana. These facts collectively demonstrate that the petitioners are long-settled inhabitants…”The eviction drive was being carried out in the Rengma Reserve Forest at Uriamghat. As per local news reports, the state authorities, beginning on July 29, 2025, “mobilised nearly 700-800 police officers, alongside CRPF units and forest officials” and deployed “heavy machinery such as bulldozers and excavators to clear encroachments from an estimated 11,000 bighas of forest land.”A Pratidin Time report had said, “Over 70% of families targeted, largely from Muslim communities with a ‘Miya’ identity, have vacated, many relocating to ancestral homes in central Assam’s Nagaon and Morigaon districts, prompting concerns over potential land conflicts and unauthorised resettlement.”A NENow report said, “Authorities described the drive as the state’s largest forest eviction operation to date, aimed at restoring ecological balance and curbing illegal encroachments in protected forest zones. However, the operation drew criticism over the manner in which it displaced residents.”