Shillong, July 2: Malabika Bisharad, who is pursuing heritage issues, has petitioned Chief Minister Conrad Sangma to protect “Ray Villah” (Circuit House) located at Kenches Trace Laban Shillong built by Dr Bidhan Chandra Roy in 1920s .
Dr Roy’s birthday was on July 1.
In a letter addressed to the chief minister, Bisharad said in the first part of November 2025, she came to know from the media that PWD was ready to demolish the historic house “Ray Villah”.
“As this house is a historic one visited by many prominent personalities including Rabindranath Tagore and Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose, I had moved my request letter to Hon’ble former Chief Justice of Meghalaya Shri Saumen Sen on 12th November 2025. Meghalaya High Court did the PIL to save the heritage building. Before that I had sent my request letters to different authorities of the state government, including Deputy Commissioner of East Khasi Hills District”, Bisharad said.
She said the final order on PIL 13 of 2025 was given by the High Court of Meghalaya.
“It is to inform you that I had visited the Circuit House several times in the past. I have seen the original house with beautiful rooms decorated with several wooden furniture. I had taken photographs of those furniture during my visit. On 17th April 2026 again I had visited the Circuit House or Ray Villa along with Amicus Curiae Shri Subhasis Chakrawarty during an inspection which was conducted by High Court of Meghalaya. I was invited by Shri Subhasis Chakrawarty to attend the inspection.
During inspection, the team from High Court of Meghalaya has taken several photographs of Circuit House from different angles. I have also taken a few photographs of the rooms of Circuit House. The house was beautifully decorated with several furniture(old and new). Caretaker told us that the house has been renovated. We have noticed, how beautifully the house has been renovated. The garden was very well maintained. The back side Assam type rooms were locked. We couldn’t enter all the rooms. The Circuit House or Ray Villa was in a very good condition, she said.
According to the letter, the age of the house is above 100 years.
“The house is a historic place which was built by Bharat Ratna and Second Chief Minister of West Bengal Dr Bidhan Chandra Roy. Dr B C Roy visited and stayed in this house several times. He was emotionally attached with this house. He faced tremendous financial crunch and sold this house to the Assam Government. Now it is the Circuit House of Meghalaya Government. It is in a very good condition and it has been preserved by the state government of Meghalaya for several years. State government of Meghalaya has renovated the house. VIPs are staying in the house. Now state government of Meghalaya has decided to install a statue of Dr Bidhan Chandra Roy and a memorial plaque on the premises of the house. We couldn’t understand why PWD has decided to demolish the historic house which is maintained so nicely by the state government of Meghalaya”, she said.
From the court order which was published in different news papers, it is not written anywhere that the state government will demolish the house. Unfortunately, few newspapers stated that the house will be demolished by the state government of Meghalaya, she said.
Bisharad urged the chief minister to ensure that the concrete building of Circuit House which has been renovated by the state government be protected in the memory of Bharat Ratna Dr Bidhan Chandra Roy.
“Kindly do not demolish the historic house “Ray Villah”. Kindly preserve the memories of Dr Bidhan Chandra Roy. Otherwise there will be no significance to install a statue of Dr Bidhan Chandra Roy and a plaque in his memory in a garden. It is not clear from the court order that why this house will not get the “Heritage site ” status. Kindly look into the matter.Kindly lend your helping hand to preserve the memories and history of “Ray Villah” at Laban”, said Bisharad.
