Gujarat high court clears govt takeover of Asaram ashram land

Ahmedabad: The Gujarat high court on Thursday dismissed two petitions filed by Sant Shree Asharam Ashram Trust challenging the state govt's decision to take back over 45,000 sq m land on which the ashram stands. The ashram, located near the Narendra Modi Stadium in Motera, will now have to make way for the Sardar Patel Sports Complex.Asaram, who founded the ashram, was behind bars in two rape cases — in Gandhinagar and in Rajasthan's Jodhpur — since 2013. He was recently granted temporary bail by the high court. His son, Narayan Sai, too is serving a life-term in Lajpore prison in a rape case.
As Ahmedabad prepares for global sporting events, the state govt has been reclaiming land in Motera for public facilities over the past one year. Among many landholders, the trust was one that received eviction notices from the revenue authorities. These decisions were challenged by the trust in the high court.Opposing the trust's pleas, govt pleader G H Virk submitted that the land was originally granted decades ago for limited religious use. However, the trust authorities continued to expand the ashram's boundaries beyond the land they were granted. The allotment conditions included no commercial activity, no unauthorized construction, and strict adherence to permissions. But inspections revealed extensive construction and occupation far exceeding what was allotted.The breach of condition was also established when the trust sought regularization of unauthorized structures, which the state govt argued amounted to a tacit admission of illegality. The govt pleader emphasized that the decision to evict the ashram was not a case of overnight action or administrative overreach, but of "fair, patient and transparent decision-making". He said the ashram received repeated notices and multiple hearings — more than the law requires — and that incremental encroachment cannot be followed by a request to legitimize it.Recently, the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) rejected the trust's applications seeking to regularize more than 30 illegal structures at the Motera site.After prolonged hearings, Justice V D Nanavati dismissed the trust's petitions, and recorded the state govt's statement: "After the order is passed, Virk, the learned govt pleader, submits that the notice under Section 202 of the Land Revenue Code will be issued after a period of two weeks." This section requires revenue authorities to enforce evictions.