Rohan Editor 
The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has issued an interim stay on the Assam government’s controversial order to deploy the state’s Forest Protection Force (FPF) for poll-related security duties in the 2026 Assembly elections. Delivering a stinging rebuke, the Tribunal termed the move “bad in law,” noting that the specialized force is legally mandated exclusively for the protection of wildlife and forest resources. The NGT highlighted that diverting these personnel during the height of the dry season—a period of increased vulnerability for the state’s national parks—could lead to “irreparable ecological damage” and provide a window for poaching syndicates.
The ruling comes as a major victory for environmental activists and former civil servants who had petitioned against the deployment, arguing that it violated the primary statutes governing forest conservation. The Tribunal pointed out that the Assam Forest Protection Force Act does not provide for the “inter-departmental” use of its officers for general law-and-order tasks. While the state administration argued that the deployment was necessary to cover sensitive booths in remote forest fringes, the NGT maintained that the constitutional duty to protect the environment cannot be secondary to administrative convenience. The state government has been directed to file a detailed response by the next hearing, even as security planners scramble to fill the resulting vacancy in the election security grid.
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