Sabarmati Ashram redevelopment: Court seeks details of trust & compensation to non-residents

After hearing the plea, the court said it will take up the matter post summer break

A fresh controversy seems to be brewing over the redevelopment of Mahatma Gandhi-founded Sabarmati Ashram in Ahmedabad, with a public interest litigation (PIL) alleging that the Gujarat government paid over Rs 250 crore as compensation under its rehabilitation and resettlement policy to those who had encroached upon the land over the last years.

After hearing the plea briefly, the division bench of Gujarat High Court Tuesday directed the petitioner to get more details about compensation paid to such people and posted the matter for post summer vacation. The PIL was filed by Devrajbhai Tulsibhai Patel, a practising lawyer, through advocate KV Shelat.

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The petitioner has claimed that the government disbursed over Rs 250 crore to over 30 families, who had encroached upon the land belonging to Ashram trusts. He said that they were not the legal heirs yet the government paid them money for the land illegally occupied.

The petitioner has said that the Sabarmati Ashram was registered under Satyagraha Ashram Trust in 1926, and later the precinct was divided between several trusts to manage the ashram. One of the trusts is Sabarmati Harijan Ashram Trust (SHAT), which was formed in 1940.

Shelat told the division bench that one of the trustees of SHAT, Jayesh Patel -- who is son-in-law of Uttar Pradesh governor and former Gujarat chief minister Anandiben Patel -- started Manav Sadhna Trust in 1996. This trust has its registered address at Ashram premises.

Shelat told the bench that Manav Sadhna Trust received Rs 45 crore from the state government to vacate its office, which was being run illegally. He also told the court that this trust has been receiving donations in the name of Ashram.

It was argued that Manav Sandha Trust and over 30 families are tenants not recognised by the original trusts, yet the money has been collected. Shelat said that the compensation and rehabilitation are meant for legal tenants and residents of the Ashram only, yet compensation to illegal beneficiaries are being paid from the public exchequer and taxpayer's money.

Following the hearing, the division bench passed the order, stating, "The petitioner is directed to supply complete details about the Harijan Ashram Trust which was registered way back in the year 1940 as well as the details about the alleged distribution of amount to the persons who were not the residents of the Ashram." The matter will be heard next on June 12.

Started in 1917, the present Sabarmati Ashram and entire precinct, managed by five different trusts, is being redeveloped at the cost of over Rs 1200 crore. The state government has floated two schemes for legal occupants to vacate the properties. Under one such scheme, Rs 60 lakh is given to each family in lieu of their property, while the second option allows them to move into a new residential complex the government will build under the redevelopment scheme.