SC to hear next week a plea against revamp of Sabarmati Ashram

The Supreme Court on Friday agreed to hear next week a plea by Mahatma Gandhi's great-grandson Tushar Gandhi against the Gujarat government's decision to redevelop Sabarmati Ashram in Ahmedabad at the estimated cost of Rs 1,200-crore.

A bench of Chief Justice of India NV Ramana, and Justices Krishna Murari and C T Ravikumar allowed a plea by senior advocate Indira Jaising for urgent listing of the matter, by posting it for consideration, on Friday, next week.

The plea questioned the validity of the Gujarat High Court's order, which had dismissed a petition against the state government's decision.

Also Read | 55 households face eviction due to Sabarmati Ashram redevelopment project

The High Court had declined to quash the Industries and Mines Department's order of March 5, 2021, by which a governing and executive council was formed for the purpose of comprehensive development of the Gandhi Ashram Memorial.

The plea claimed the decision to redesign and redevelop the Ashram to make it into a "world-class museum" and "tourist destination" was diametrically opposed to Mahatma Gandhi's personal wishes, as per his written instruction of September 30, 1933.

It also said that the project will change the physical structure of Sabarmati Ashram and corrupt its pristine simplicity which embodied the ideology of Gandhiji. The ashram may lose the Gandhian ethos with the execution of the project, it said.

The High Court, however, had gone by an assurance by the Gujarat government that the revamp plan won't disturb the existing Ashram.

Watch the latest DH Videos here: