Guwahati: Indigenous and land rights activist Pranab Doley walked out of Golaghat District Jail on Friday, bringing an end to 118 days in custody after the Gauhati High Court quashed his preventive detention under the National Security Act (NSA), 1980.

Doley walked free hours after the High Court set aside the Assam government’s detention order dated July 30, 2026, and directed that he be released and set at liberty forthwith.

A Division Bench comprising Justice Kalyan Rai Surana and Justice Susmita Phukan Khaund allowed Doley’s habeas corpus petition, holding that his preventive detention was unsustainable on facts and in law.

The court identified four major grounds for quashing the detention, including reliance on stale criminal cases, failure to furnish relevant documents, non-consideration of Doley’s second representation and the authorities’ inability to establish a connection between his foreign travels and remittances and activities prejudicial to public order or national security.

Doley, 40, was arrested on July 12, 2026, in connection with protests against a proposed luxury hotel project near Kaziranga National Park in Golaghat district.

Police had accused him of trespassing into the proposed Tea Tribes Museum site and the adjoining Assam Tourism Development Corporation (ATDC)-Hyatt hotel project during a protest at Hatikhuli Bagicha Revenue Village near Kaziranga.

A local court in Golaghat granted him bail on July 29, observing that the statements of key witnesses had already been recorded by the police and that there was no possibility of Doley tampering with evidence.

However, the following day, July 30, the Assam government invoked Section 3(2) of the National Security Act (NSA) against him, preventing his release despite the bail order.

The government justified the preventive detention by alleging that Doley’s activities were prejudicial to the maintenance of public order and the security of the state. The detention grounds also referred to alleged suspicious foreign transactions and remittances from doubtful sources, which the authorities claimed were in violation of the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act.

The NSA order directed that Doley remain detained at Golaghat District Jail.

Challenging the detention, Doley approached the Gauhati High Court through a habeas corpus petition, arguing that the preventive detention was unlawful and that the authorities had failed to follow mandatory legal and constitutional safeguards.

In its detailed judgment pronounced on Friday (November 6), the High Court found that several criminal cases cited against Doley were old and that the authorities had failed to disclose important details concerning his acquittals and discharge in those cases.

The Bench also found that relevant documents relied upon by the authorities had not been furnished to him, affecting his ability to make an effective representation against the detention.

Another significant finding concerned his second representation dated August 10, which the court held should have been forwarded to and considered by the concerned authorities at the earliest.

The court further observed that the authorities had failed to establish a live and proximate link between Doley’s foreign travels, foreign remittances and the activities cited as grounds for his preventive detention.

Quashing both the detention order and the grounds of detention, the High Court directed his immediate release from preventive custody.

With his release from Golaghat District Jail on Friday, Doley’s 118-day incarceration has come to an end.