Supreme Court of India has disposed of a special leave petition for impleadment pertaining to Intangki National Park after hearing the counsels of both petitioner(s) (Inavi village) and respondent(s) state of Nagaland & others.
Counsel for the petitioner Vikas Singh submitted that all the villagers of the petitioner village assured Supreme Court that they would not re-enter Intangki National Park. He submitted that a written undertaking on their behalf would be filed in the Registry within two weeks from Mar 23.
Senior counsel for the petitioner further submitted that the villagers, who have been ousted from Intangki, were without any shelter and they intended to make a representation to the state government for their rehabilitation/relocation.
A two-judge bench of the Supreme Court comprising of Justice R.M. Lodha and Justice H.L. Gokhale observed that if a representation was made by the villagers of the petitioner, the respondents (Nagaland govt) shall consider the same in accordance with law.
In view of the statement of senior counsel for the petitioner, advocate general for the state of Nagaland K.N. Balgopal submitted that the state shall not enforce the order of the High Court for recovery of the compensation from the petitioner.
The Gauhati High court had ordered that if villages failed to voluntarily vacate the area occupied by them inside Intangki National Park and hand it over to the state government within December 31, 2011, they shall pay a penalty of Rs five lakh per hectare per month to the state government.