The Supreme Court on Tuesday dismissed an appeal filed by Tushar Gandhi, the great-grandson of Mahatma Gandhi, challenging the Gujarat government’s decision to undertake the redevelopment of the Sabarmati Ashram.
A bench of Justices M.M. Sundresh and Rajesh Bindal dismissed the plea as it was filed long after the impugned order was passed in September 2022.
The Sabarmati Ashram, also known as Gandhi Ashram, was established by Mahatma Gandhi in Ahmedabad in 1917. He had from 1917 to 1930 stayed at the ashram, which served as the nerve centre of the country’s freedom movement.
The apex court had in April 2022 asked Gujarat High Court to examine afresh the petition filed by Tushar Gandhi challenging the state government’s decision to redevelop the Sabarmati Ashram allegedly into a commercial venture as it set aside an earlier high court order dismissing his plea that the move would “corrupt its pristine simplicity and frugality that embodies the ideology of Gandhiji”.
After hearing the state government and Tushar Gandhi’s plea, the high court dismissed the latter’s petition in September 2022.
According to the appeal, the project has purportedly identified around 40 “congruent” buildings to be preserved and 200 structures to be demolished. The plan promises facilities such as a cafeteria, parking lot, parks and the revival of the Chandrabhaga river.
According to Tushar Gandhi, the Trust managing the ashram should alone take a decision on its development and there should be no government intervention.
In his public interest petition, Tushar Gandhi had sought a direction that the redevelopment be carried out under the aegis of the National Gandhi Smarak Nidhi (NGSN), which would keep “all monuments associated with the Father of the Nation strictly apolitical and completely free of government control or interference”.