Guwahati: The Gauhati High Court has permitted the Assam government to move ahead with its decision to confer land ownership rights on tea garden workers, refusing to stay an amended law challenged by the Indian Tea Association (ITA).
The case was heard on February 4, with counsel for the ITA and the state presenting arguments on the amendment enacted during the winter session of the Assam Assembly.
Advocate General Devajit Saikia said the ITA opposed the amendment, arguing that it would alter the structure of tea estates. The planters’ body also contended that the measure could adversely affect tea production and disrupt estate operations.
The High Court declined to grant an interim stay. Saikia said the court observed that the initiative was part of the state’s welfare policy and allowed the government to proceed. Under the scheme, workers residing in labour lines within tea estates will be eligible for ownership rights on payment of Rs 500 per bigha.
Saikia said Assam has about 850 tea estates, of which 707 contain labour lines. “Generations of workers have lived in these lines without land rights. The government has initiated the process to grant them ownership, which will be transferred to workers residing within tea garden labour lines,” he said.
The State Cabinet had earlier cleared the policy, followed by the passage of the Assam Fixation of Ceiling of Land Holdings (Amendment) Act, 2025, enabling the allocation of land in labour lines for housing ownership.
Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma termed the amendment an effort to rectify a “historic mistake”, saying it recognises the rights of workers whose families have been associated with Assam’s tea gardens for nearly two centuries after being brought to the region during the colonial era.