Setback For Gujarat In Supreme Court On
Sabarmati Ashram Revamp Plan
The court set aside the high court
verdict dismissing Tushar Gandhi's plea against the plan which he contended
will corrupt the Ashram's simplicity
New Delhi : 1st April, 2022
The Supreme Court today asked the Gujarat High Court to
hear afresh Mahatma Gandhi's great grandson's plea against the state
government's plan to redevelop Sabarmati Ashram.
The court has set aside the high
court's November 21 verdict dismissing Tushar Gandhi's plea against the plan
which he contended will corrupt the pristine simplicity of the Ashram.
The development comes as a setback for the Bhupendra
Patel-led BJP government in the state which has chalked out
a ? 1,200-crore Gandhi Ashram Memorial and Precinct Development
Project.
The bench of Justices D Y Chandrachud and Surya Kant said,
"We are of the view it would have been appropriate for the HC to decide on
these issues after furnishing an opportunity to Gujarat government to file a
comprehensive affidavit on the matter addressing the various facets."
The Supreme Court, however, clarified that it has not gone
into the merits of the case. "We clarify that this Court has not entered
into the merits of the issues that were raised by the petitioners or the legal
correctness of the matter," it said, while allowing the petitioner and
Gujarat government to request the High Court for speedy disposal of the issue.
Senior Advocate Indira Jaising, representing Tushar
Gandhi, said at the end of the hearing, "I have worn a khadi saree
especially for today."
The Gujarat government was represented by Solicitor
General Tushar Mehta.
In his petition against the redevelopment plan, Mr Gandhi
has contended that it will change the physical structure of Sabarmati Ashram
and corrupt its pristine simplicity that embodies the ideology of Gandhiji. He
has argued that with the "nature of redevelopment and the oversized
involvement of the government authorities in the conception and execution of
the project, the ashram may lose the Gandhian ethos".