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Supreme Court agrees to hear petition against Sabarmati Ashram revamp
A bench, headed by Chief Justice of India NV Ramana, said that the petition will likely come up for hearing on April 1 after senior advocate Indira Jaising sought an urgent hearing on behalf of Tushar Gandhi.
The Supreme Court on Friday agreed to hear next week a petition filed by Mahatma Gandhi’s great-grandson Tushar Gandhi against the Gujarat government’s Sabarmati Ashram redevelopment project.
A bench, headed by Chief Justice of India NV Ramana, said that the petition will likely come up for hearing on April 1 after senior advocate Indira Jaising sought an urgent hearing on behalf of Tushar Gandhi.
The petition has challenged an order by the Gujarat high court on November 21 dismissing Gandhi’s plea on the state government’s assured that it would not touch the three key attractions situated in the core one-acre area and that the redevelopment would take place only in the 55 acre-area surrounding the main Ashram. The three major attractions are the Gandhi Ashram, the museum inside it, and Magan Niwas.
“The government has given an assurance that the existing Ashram, which is in an area of one acre, would not be disturbed, and it will be maintained as it is. Thus, all the fears and apprehensions of the petitioner stand allayed in the government’s order,” the high court noted while rejecting Gandhi’s petition.
The state government also informed the high court that the government intends to restore 46 old and dilapidated houses near the Ashram, which was established on the banks of the Sabarmati river by Mahatma Gandhi over 100 years ago.
The redevelopment project envisages developing the Ashram the way it existed during Mahatma Gandhi’s time when it was spread over 35 to 40 acres with 63 heritage properties, 48 of which are still standing.
The sprawling premises, also called the Gandhi Ashram, served as Gandhiji’s residence for several years.
Tushar Gandhi, the grandson of Mahatma Gandhi’s third son Mani Lal, challenged the state government’s ₹1,200 crore Gandhi Ashram Memorial and Precinct Development Project, contending the state should not be allowed to go ahead since the constitution of Gandhi Smarak Nidhi says that the Ashram and memorials should be kept away from any kind of government and political influences.
The appeal maintained that the Gujarat High Court dismissed the plea on a limited misleading statement made by the state’s advocate general without taking into account the grievances raised by the petitioner.
The significance of the land was not limited to the one-acre Ashram itself but covered the entire property on the banks of the Sabarmati which was more than 100 acres, said the appeal, adding the land serves as a source of inspiration and stands as a monument to Gandhiji’s life mission.
“The petitioner is apprehensive that the nature of redevelopment and over-sized involvement of the government authorities in the conception and execution of the said project, the ashram may lose the Gandhian ethos that has been painstakingly preserved by the Trust,” it further said.
