New Delhi: The Assam government under Himanta Biswa Sarma has restricted the grant of no-objection certificates or NOCs for the sale of land between people belonging to different religions for three months, The Hindu has reported.
The report notes that the government’s Revenue and Disaster Management (Registration) Department issued a notification on March 7 through the state governor, saying that this pause comes after inputs from intelligence agencies which have allegedly pointed to the transfer of land involving people of different religions “by fraudulent means.”
Vested interests can thus create communal conflict with the Lok Sabha election ahead, the notification claims, according to the report.
The notification however adds that if a district commissioner notes that a no-objection certificate is “absolutely necessary” and “will not lead to any breach of law and order,” then it can be issued with prior concurrence of the Assam Inspector General of Registration.
The notification is signed by Gyanendra Dev Tripathi, the Principal Secretary to the state’s Revenue Department.
Lok Sabha elections in 14 constituencies in Assam will be conducted in three phases, on April 19, April 26, and May 7.
The notification follows the launch of the third phase of the Himanta government’s flagship Mission Basundhara under which only “indigenous” people of Assam can apply to get land titles for government-owned lands. Himanta had earlier noted that Bengali-origin Muslims who are landless could not apply for land under this policy.
