SC junks Tushar Gandhi’s plea on Sabarmati Ashram revamp

The Supreme Court on Tuesday dismissed a petition filed by Tushar Gandhi, the great-grandson of Mahatma Gandhi, challenging the Gujarat government’s acquisition and redevelopment of the historic Sabarmati Ashram.

A bench comprising justices MM Sundresh and Rajesh Bindal underlined the delay of over two years by Tushar Gandhi in assailing a previous decision of the Gujarat high court. Tushar Gandhi had challenged an October 2022 decision of the Gujarat high court, which had given a go ahead to the state government following an undertaking by the state that the existing Gandhi Ashram located in an area of five acres would not be disturbed or altered.

In March 2021, the Gujarat government issued a resolution for the “comprehensive development” of the Gandhi Ashram Memorial and its surrounding precincts. However, Tushar Gandhi’s petition contended that the acquisition was contrary to Gandhian values and violated constitutional provisions, specifically Article 39, which discourages the concentration of wealth, and Article 49, which mandates the protection of monuments and places of national importance.

“The Sabarmati Ashram is proposed to be transformed into a theme park by huge investments, making a mockery of the teachings of Gandhi. Gandhi is synonymous with simple and chaste living. The ashram is testimony to symbols of peace, simplicity, and serenity. The redevelopment plan threatens to erase the essence of Mahatma Gandhi and the ashram,” stated the plea, filed through advocate Nishe Rajen Sonker.

Tushar Gandhi further alleged that the project will not only alter the historical topography of the ashram but also displace resident Harijan families and sideline Gandhian trusts. The redevelopment plan involves retaining 40 buildings while demolishing or reconstructing nearly 200 others. Control over the project will rest with a government-led body, headed by the chief minister and senior bureaucrats, which, according to the petition, is an attempt to take over the memorial and strip it of its autonomous Gandhian legacy.

The petition also highlights a 1933 letter written by Mahatma Gandhi, wherein he expressed his intent to transfer the ashram land to the Harijan Sevak Sangh. In light of this, Tushar Gandhi has urged the court to declare that any redevelopment must align with Gandhi’s vision and be carried out in consultation with independent Gandhians, historians, and custodians of the ashram.

But the Supreme Court noted an inordinate delay by Tushar Gandhi in filing the appeal, declining to entertain it.