By Sangeeta Barooah Pisharoty
New Delhi: Senior Supreme Court lawyer Colin Gonsalves was prevented from entering Arunachal Pradesh for several hours today with the local administration refusing to issue him an Inner Line Permit (ILP) on the ground that he is “a suspect” in a case.
When Gonsalves asked the authorities manning the Ruksin Gate border check post in East Siang district about the details of that “case”, he was asked to contact the office of the assistant deputy commissioner.
Gonsalves said he was travelling to Arunachal Pradesh to meet Bhanu Tatak, a young environmental activist who was prevented from leaving India by immigration authorities at Delhi airport on September 7 due to a “lookout notice” issued by Arunachal Police against her in two cases, one of which is a criminal case. Consalves had represented Tatak in the Delhi high court seeking relief. However, the court refused to hear her case as it agreed to the government’s contention that it didn’t have territorial jurisdiction to entertain the matter, and, therefore, directed her to move the appropriate high court for relief, which would be the Arunachal bench of the Gauhati High Court.
Tatak, who was set to travel to Ireland for a three-month course at Dublin City University, has been at the forefront of the ongoing movement against the proposed 11,500 megawatt Siang Upper Multipurpose Project (SUMP) in the state.
Gonsalves told The Wire, “After landing at Gauhati airport, I had moved towards Arunachal Pradesh with some my local friends and on reaching the border check point at Ruksin Gate, I filled up the form to seek an ILP to enter the state. However, I was told that there is an order from the assistant deputy commissioner that I should not be issued an ILP as I am an accused in a case. On asking for details, nothing was given. We continued to wait.”
Gonsalves, accompanied by anti-dam activist and advocate Emo Mili, waited “for about 5-6 hours” at the border check gate after speaking to the local police head. “Finally, we were granted an ILP for one day,” he told The Wire.
This story was originally published in thewire.in. Read the full story here.
