Guwahati Dec 20 PTI The Assam Jatiya Parishad AJP has urged the National Human Rights Commission NHRC to take appropriate action against alleged extra-judicial killings by the state police since the Himanta Biswa Sarma-led BJP government assumed office Anti-social elements indulging in unlawful activities should be dealt with vigorously but once an alleged culprit is apprehended he must be given the chance to be tried judicially AJP President Lurinjyoti Gogoi and Secretary Jagadish Bhuyan said in a letter to NHRC Chairperson Justice Arun Kumar Mishra Gogoi and Bhuyan pointed out in the letter made available to the media on Monday that even the worst offender should face justice through due process of law though unfortunately the principle of natural justice has been repeatedly violated by the law enforcing agencies and more unfortunately this has been endorsed by the top functionary of the state The chief minister is on record saying that criminals can be shot in the legs if they try to escape Law says the police can only use minimum force and it doesnt mean police can fire on a fleeing person they said The letter said it was not acceptable to allow enforcing agencies to act without any sanction of law and the police force of any state must function within the limits set by the principle of justice The AJP is deeply worried and concerned over the unique pattern of such extra judicial killings and therefore appeals to the NHRC to take note of the same and take appropriate action The police may be very conveniently used by the party in power to suppress the legitimate rights of the people Gogoi and Bhuyan alleged According to reports a list prepared by Assam Police shows 28 people were killed from May till the end of November in police firing Two more people died in custody in early December while a third died in a police shootout a few days later and all deaths have been confirmed by the police A closer look at the list of those killed throws up certain patterns most belonged to ethnic or religious minorities in Assam Of the 30 people killed and identified so far 14 belonged to a religious minority and 10 were from the tribal communities Bodo Dimasa or Kuki who were reportedly facing police action for being alleged extremists According to Assam Police at least 55 people were also injured in police shootings between May 10 and December 10 Of these at least 30 are from a particular minority community The chief minister who also holds the home portfolio has repeatedly defended the state police about these custodial deaths and shootouts Sarma had said that shooting at criminals should be the pattern if they tried to escape even claiming that the law permitted it and such measures would be used until crime was wiped out from Assam The trend of extra judicial killings which seemed to deliver instant justice has set a dangerous precedent where police norms and guidelines could be flouted as a matter of course the leaders said The NHRC Chairperson in a press conference here last week had said that there is no place for fake encounters in a civilised society It is barbaric and cannot be allowed The law must take its own course At the same time we cannot generalise and allege that all encounters are fake Some may be fake and we will take up each complaint and examine the merit of each case he said PTI DG JRC JRC

Guwahati Dec 20 PTI Assam reported two deaths due to COVID-19 on Monday while 94 more persons tested positive for the infection pushing the states tally to 619586 the National Health Mission said The number of active cases currently in the state is 955 as against 982 on Sunday The contagion claimed two lives during the day the same as on Sunday The NHM bulletin said the coronavirus death toll is now 6149 The current death rate in the state is 099 per cent while 1347 COVID-19 patients have died due to other causes The number of fresh infections rose by 19 than the previous day The positivity rate decreased to 027 per cent from 053 per cent on Sunday The new cases were detected out of 34609 tests increasing from 14115 tests conducted on the previous day while the cumulative tests in the state have so far reached 26332276 The number of patients who were cured of the disease during the day was 119 lower than the previous days 133 So far 611135 people have recovered from the infection and the current recovery rate was at 9864 percent The cumulative beneficiaries administered the vaccines in the state thus far increased to 36256582 with 21663095 receiving the first dose and 14593487 administered the second dose PTI DG MM MM

Guwahati Dec 20 PTI Opposition Congress MLA Sashi Kanta Das joined the government in Assam on Monday the first day of the winter session of the Assembly and will work in association with it though he will not resign from the party immediately Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said The Congress slapped a show cause notice on Das within hours and asked him to clarify his stand and intentions within a day The show cause inssued by Assam Congress general secretary Bobbeeta Sharma said that Das was seen under full media glare offering support to the BJP government and his allegiance to Sarma and BJP state unit president Bhabesh Kalita Sarma and Kalita welcomed Das at the chief ministers chamber inside the Assembly complex while the House was in progress Das has decided to join the government to develop Raha constituency from where he was elected It is not decided yet whether he will join our political party Sarma told reporters while welcoming the opposition MLA He will continue to remain a Congress MLA and not resign from it immediately he said Das is a first time MLA from Raha in Nagaon district who has been in Congress for several decades since his NSUI days He as elected from the seat in the Assembly poll held earlier this year Asked if Das will attend the BJP legislature party meetings Sarma said Sometimes he will sit in our room But in the House he will sit with the Congress Replying to a question if there will be by-poll in Raha in view of the development he said There are two systems First by-election will take place in some constituencies and second there will be no by-poll but the opposition MLAs will work with us When asked Das said he is impressed by the proactive steps initiated by the Sarma-led government for the development of all communities in Assam I have trust in Sarma for many years I met him for some developmental issues of Raha and he was very positive on them I am with the government for developmental purposes only but have not decided anything on leaving Congress he added Sarma had been in the Congress and was a minister in the Tarun Gogoi government before he joined the BJP in 2015 Asked repeatedly by scribes whether he will join the BJP the Congress MLA said The situation has not arisen yet I am still a Congress MLA and will sit with them I will support development To a query whether he will accompany Congress legislators in case of a walkout in the House over an issue Das said If the issue is logical then I will be with them Congress The Congress show cause to Das said that his statements and actions have created misgivings in the minds of party workers and tarnished its image and discipline Reacting to the development Leader of the Opposition Debabrata Saikia Cong said Das has been in Congress since the bad days for the party and his move is a shocking development for us Das was tortured by the ULFA for being in Congress Such was his commitment to the party We did not anticipate this when the House was in the first day of its winter session Saikia said Former minister and senior Congress MLA Rakibul Hussain with whom Das shares a close association said that the move was planned inside the Assembly complex and took place on the first day of winter session to deviate the partys attention from crucial issues The opposition including the Congress staged a walkout in the Assembly amidst chaotic scenes on Monday after Speaker Biswajit Daimary rejected an adjournment motion moved by the party to discuss the alleged land scam by a company co-founded by the chief ministers wife BJPs strength in the 126-member Assam Assembly is currently 62 while its allies UPPL has seven and AGP nine MLAs In the opposition camp the Congress strength is 27 AIUDF 15 BPF three and CPIM has one MLA There is an Independent MLA too PTI TR KK KK KK

Guwahati Dec 20 PTI The Assam government on Monday introduced an amendment bill in the state assembly for issuing transit passes for liquor from neighbouring states passing through Assam The Assam Excise Amendment Bill 2021 placed by Excise Minister Parimal Suklabaidya seeks to replace the Assam Excise Amendment Ordinance 2021The bill said in view of long porous borders with neighbouring states the Assam excise department has to constantly struggle to check transportation and smuggling of liquor To monitor the movement of liquor transiting through Assam it was essential to introduce a system of transit pass and due to urgency of the matter an ordinance was promulgated on September 15 it said The Assam Cooperative Societies Amendment Bill 2021 was also introduced in the House by the departments minister Atul Bora It proposes to delete the provision in the principal act that disallowed registration of any society under the act in an area where there already exists another cooperative society with similar objectives except with special permission Through the amendment it is sought to bring competitiveness and professionalism among the cooperatives and end monopoly the bill said PTI SSG NN NN

Guwahati Dec 20 PTI Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Monday said the state will continue to be under Armed Forces Special Powers Act 1958 and a decision on withdrawing it will be taken only if the present peace prevails for a longer term He expressed apprehension that the militant groups might not reciprocate the same way if the AFSPA is withdrawn from Assam Sarma however said that no state government wants to continue with AFSPA if the law and order situation is peaceful and conducive The Assam government is of the view that if this kind of peaceful situation continues at a later date we will be able to take a call on whether we need AFSPA in entire Assam or we need it only in some parts Sarma told reporters here He cited the example of Arunachal Pradesh which decided to withdraw the Act in consultation with the central home ministry from many parts of the state except in three districts AFSPA or not cannot be a call of the government It has to depend on the overall situation law and order situation of the state Now suppose I withdraw will that be reciprocated by the militant organisations If they do not withdraw and we do the Army will not be able to carry out any operation meaning thereby you are inviting chaos So I think AFSPA withdrawal is linked to the peace and stability of the state Sarma said Stating that no state government will want to continue with AFSPA if the law and order situation is peaceful and conducive he said I am only saying this in the context of our state and not Nagaland because I have no jurisdiction to do so On Nagaland I do not have any assessment I do not want to comment on the situation that exists in that state he added Nagaland Assembly on Monday unanimously adopted a resolution demanding that the Centre repeal AFSPA from the North East and specially from the state so as to strengthen the ongoing efforts to find a peaceful political settlement to the Naga political issue Thirteen civilians were gunned down by security foces at Oting village of Mon district on December 4 in a botched anti-insurgency operation leading to cries by civil groups and rights activists for repeal of the draconian law The chief ministers of Nagaland and Meghalaya had also sought the revocation of the Act The Assam government had extended the existing Disturbed Area status of the state for another six months with effect from August 28 thereby continuing AFSPA in the state The Act was imposed in Assam in November 1990 and has been extended every six months since then after a review by the state government AFSPA empowers security forces to conduct operations anywhere and arrest anyone without any prior warrant It also gives a certain level of immunity to the security forces in case of an operation going wrong PTI TR KK KK

Guwahati Dec 20 PTI The Winter Session of Assam assembly began with chaotic scenes on Monday after the Speaker rejected an adjournment motion moved by the Congress to discuss the alleged land scam by a company co-founded by the wife of Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma The unruly scene inside the House forced Speaker Biswajit Daimary to adjourn the session for 10 minutes Later the entire opposition comprising the Congress AIUDF the CPIM and one Independent MLA staged a walkout as the matter was not allowed to be discussed Leader of the Opposition Debabrata Saikia and other Congress MLAs served a notice for an adjournment motion to discuss alleged violation of laws while acquiring 29 bighas and 9 lecha around 18 acres of government land by RBS Realtors Pvt Ltd Daimary initially said he received an adjournment motion on violation of land policies by a private company and the motion was disallowed He did not mention what the notice was all about On this Independent MLA Akhil Gogoi said Cannot we talk about the CMs familys land scandal Reacting to Gogois question all the BJP members stood up and started shouting at him The speaker said there was no need to take anyones name Justifying his stand to reject the motion Daimary said I have not got any data on the topic There are only some newspaper clippings When Gogoi insisted on reading out the topic of the notice he said that there was no need to read it out in the House Saikia then said that it would be wrong if the opposition party was not allowed to even talk on the admissibility of the notice A decision to reject it can be pronounced thereafter Other senior Congress MLAs such as Bharat Chandra Narah and Kamalakhya Dey Purkayastha too questioned the Speaker for not reading out the notice The rule allows the Speaker to decide on the admissibility of a notice I have checked it and found that it is not admissible Daimary said Gogoi then again raised the issue mentioning the alleged land scam by the wife of the chief minister The BJP members too reacted sharply to this leading to adjournment of the House for 10 minutes When the House reassembled Saikia raised the topic again and urged the Speaker to discuss the matter When Daimary stuck to his point over dismissal of the notice without mentioning the topic the opposition stood and shouted against the alleged scam Finally the Speaker allowed Saikia to talk on the admissibility of the notice related to grabbing of government land The senior Congress leader then read out the entire notice and said that the matter is of recent development was not discussed earlier public interest related not sub-judice related to the state government and involves corruption Saikia also said that the ministers role is also under question in the entire development and demanded an Assembly resolution to initiate a probe by a sitting judge and return the occupied land to the actual beneficiaries When we have scores of erosion hit landless families one private commercial company has grabbed government land meant for the poor It needs to be investigated properly he added Giving the governments version Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pijush Hazarika said the alleged irregularities took place between 2006 and 2009 which is not a recent period So it should be rejected Saikia said it was exposed by the media recently so it should be discussed Gogoi displayed a local vernacular daily and claimed that it appeared on Mondays edition also Both Saikia and Gogoi said it is a matter of public interest and urgency There is no issue in discussing it but not adjourning other works You may bring it through other devices I dont see a situation to adjourn all businesses and discuss it Daimary said On this the Congress AIUDF CPIM and the Independent MLAs staged a walkout from the House for the dayThe chief minister was not present at the House Earlier another adjournment motion by the AIUDF to discuss an agriculture project at Gorukhuti in Darrang district where two people were killed in police firing during an eviction drive in September was rejected as the matter is sub-judice PTI TR NN NN

Guwahati Dec 20 PTI The Assam government on Monday moved a bill for constituting direct recruitment commissions for appointments to Class III and Class IV posts in different establishments and offices under it The Assam Direct Recruitment Commissions for Analogous Posts in Class-III and Class-IV Bill 2021 was placed in the House by Industry and Commerce Minister Chandra Mohan Patowary on behalf of Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma who also holds the Personnel department on the first day of the Winter Session of the Assembly The bill seeks to provide for regulating the process of direct recruitment to Class III and IV posts which have similar eligibility requirements by holding a common selection test It will help in expediting the recruitment process and also curb expenditureFurther it will provide respite to aspiring candidates from applying and appearing in different recruitment tests for similar posts under different departments Two State Level Direct Recruitment Commissions will be notified under the bill for recruitment for all technical and non-technical posts of both the class III and IV except certain posts or category of posts that may be excluded from its purview by the government The commissions would be able to conduct any part or the whole of the recruitment process themselves or through any other institution or agency as deemed to be competent with the approval of the government The bill will not require any expenditure from the consolidated fund of the state once it comes into force Another bill to amend the Assam Police Act 2007 was also introduced in the House by Patowary on behalf of the chief minister who also holds Home and Political portfolio among others The proposed Assam Police Amendment Bill 2021 seeks to remove ambiguities in functioning of the State-level Police Accountability Commission vis--vis other constitutional and statutory authorities Among the amendments proposed is the deletion of certain categories from the explanation under the term serious misconduct with regards to complaints taken up the state-level accountability commission against any police personnel Allegations of arrest or detention without due process of law forceful deprivation of a person of his rightful ownership or possession of property blackmail or extortion and non-registration of FIR against police personnel will be omitted from the definition of serious misconduct as per the bill Any willful breach or neglect by a police officer of any law rule regulation which adversely affects the rights of any member of the public excluding what is defined as serious misconduct will fall under the misconduct category in the context of the amendments proposed The Assam Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Reservation of Posts in Services Amendment Bill 2021 was also introduced in the Assembly by Minister for Welfare of Plain Tribes and Backward Classes Ranoj Pegu The bill proposes to allow every establishment to prepare and notify the roster for each cadre equivalent to the number of post with the approval of the senior-most secretary of the Administrative department concerned The amendment is required so that all Administrative departments can notify the roster registers from their end the statement of objects and reasons of the proposed bill said PTI SSG SSG RG RG

Guwahati Dec 20 PTI The Assam government Monday moved an amendment in the Asembly seeking to make The Assam Cattle Preservation Act 2021 more stringent with regard to investigation procedure and facilitating utilisation of cattle for animal husbandry and agricultural purposes The Assam Cattle Preservation Amendment Bill 2021 was laid in the House by Industry and Commerce Minister Chandra Mohan Patowary on behalf of Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on the first day of the winter session of the Assembly The original legislation to regulate the slaughter consumption and transportation of cattle in the state was passed in the Assembly on August 13 The statement of objects and reasons for the amendment mentioned that the changes are being proposed to remove certain existing restrictions with the aim of facilitating utilisation of cattle for animal husbandry and agricultural purposes The amendments also seeks to ensure strict implementation of the penal provisions of the Act and therefore new provisions regarding investigation procedure have been proposed The proposed amendment bill seeks to scrap the provision in the principal act wherein the state government was authorised to exempt certain places of worship or certain occasions for slaughter of cattle other than calf heifer and cow for religious purposes It also seeks to allow transport of cattle from one district to another within the state by issuing permit to agencies and farms registered under the Animal Husbandry and Veterinary department for bona fide agricultural or animal husbandry purposes or for transportation of cattle for trade for the said purposes However transport of cattle to any district within the state that has international boundary is sought to be prohibited through the amendment bill Further it seeks to allow the sale of the seized vehicles boats vessels and others except cattle after being produced before the appropriate court during inquiry or trial The amendment sought authorisation of the investigation officer to attach or seize documents relating to moveable and immovable property acquired by a person or hisher family members against whom a case has been registered under the principal act within six years prior to the registration of the case The burden to prove that the attached or seized property was not acquired illegally through sale or transportation of cattle in violation of any provision of the principal act will be on the affected person PTI SSG KK KK KK