Army objects to hospital in Assam near India-Bangladesh border, expresses concern over 'drone movement'

New Delhi: A proposed multi-speciality hospital overlooking a military camp near the sensitive Indo-Bangladesh border at Jorhat in Assam has become a flashpoint in the Supreme Court after the Army objected to its construction, expressing apprehension of "drone movement" and the possibility of the use of "long-range sniper rifles".

The Army, which initially objected to the no-objection certificate granted to the private company by the Jorhat Development Authority for constructing the hospital, has now said that if at all the hospital is allowed to be built, it should have a more than 15-foot-tall concrete boundary wall with separators and no window of the multi-storeyed structure should face the Army camp.

A bench of Justices Dipankar Datta and Satish Chandra Sharma, which heard the Army officials along with Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Vikramjit Banerjee appearing for the Centre, observed that it needs to strike a balance as on one side lies "public health" and on the other side is "national security".

It asked the ASG and senior advocate Siddharth Dave, appearing for the private company Dr. N Sahewalla and Company Pvt Ltd. constructing the hospital, to find a solution in two weeks after the Army submitted that it is not per se against the construction of the hospital, as it could also be beneficial to its personnel in case of emergency but some safeguards should be there.

Banerjee submitted, "The boundary walls of the hospital should be above 15 feet tall with a separator and no windows of the hospital, which has insisted on having glass windows, should face the Army camp.

"The situation now is very volatile at the Indo-Bangladesh border. It's not the threat of long-range sniper rifles alone but nowadays, a drone can be brought in after having a view of the camp." The bench, after recording the submission of an Army colonel who also addressed the court, said that the solution can be found by both parties as both "public health" and "national security" are of importance.

"We have requested ASG Vikramjeet Banerjee and senior advocate Siddharth Dave to sit together along with Col. Saurabh to explore ways and means for ensuring the nation's security without overlooking the other important consideration of public health. We expect the parties to place before us the minutes of the meeting leading to positive amicable resolutions of the issues," the top court said in its January 8 order.

It added that if the company constructing the hospital is to face some additional financial constraints for putting in some additional safeguards, then the Centre may help it.

During the hearing, Dave said the company has purchased a plot of land measuring 8 bighas 17 lechas in Jorhat town within the Jorhat Municipal Board area and it has applied for the NOC from the development authority which was granted on March 4, 2022 but was later cancelled after the Army's objections.

He submitted that objections are being raised only against the construction of the hospital despite the fact that there are other constructions in the vicinity of the camp including a marketplace.

"No such conditions of constructing a 15-foot wall with a separator were put to anyone but me. There are other constructions and the place is crowded," Dave said while handing over pictures to the court.

The bench, after going through the documents, observed that it needs to balance the rights of all the parties.

Dave said according to the guidelines issued by the Ministry of Defence on May 18, 2011, it was laid down that for any construction coming up within 100 metres of a defence installation/establishment and 500 metres in case of building more than four storeys, the 'NOC' from the station commander would be required as the construction might pose security hazard to such defence installation.

He added that subsequently, the notification dated May 18, 2011 was modified by the notification dated October 21, 2016 issued by the Ministry of Defence, whereby, the radius of such restriction in construction has been reduced to 10 metres from the outer wall of such defence installation.

"I am constructing the hospital which is at least 70 metres away from the Army camp and, therefore, under the existing circular dated October 21, 2016, there was no necessity for the company to obtain any NOC from the Army authorities," he submitted, adding that suspending the construction of the hospital would deprive the public of that area from the facilities of a super-specialty hospital.

Banerjee disputed the submission and said that not only the building but even the boundary wall constructed was within 10 metres of the defence installation and, therefore, they were required to take the NOC from the Army authorities. He said that they have relied on the 2011 notification.

On August 4, 2022, while allowing the plea of the company, the Gauhati High Court said that under the notification dated October 21, 2016, no 'NOC' from the Army authority would be necessary in case of any construction carried out beyond 10 metres away from the outer wall of any defence establishment.

Directing verification of the necessary facts, the high court had directed the Jorhat Development Authority to pass a fresh order regarding the building construction permission issued to the company.

Aggrieved by the order of the high court, the Centre and the Army have knocked on the doors of the apex court.