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The Supreme Court on Monday asked the Gujarat government not to take any coercive action against land and properties held by the ashram of self-styled 'godman' and rape convict Asaram Bapu in Ahmedabad.
A bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta ordered the government to maintain the status quo and said that the municipal authorities' show-cause notice "prima facie lacked material particulars". Justice Mehta told Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, who was appearing for the Gujarat government, that prima facie it appears that notices were not served to the Sant Shri Asharam Trust, which manages the ashram. Solicitor General responded that there were several violations of the lease conditions and encroachment of government land, saying that proper notices were issued. "You yourself have been very benevolent. First, you granted a lease for 6261 square metres, and then again, you granted a lease for more land, and now, overnight, you want the lease to go," Justice Nath told Mehta. To this, Mehta said that more than 30 buildings have been constructed on the land without any permissions. The bench granted the state of Gujarat three days to file its counter affidavit and listed the matter for hearing on May 5, while directing that the status quo be maintained in the interim. The land forms part of a larger 650-acre parcel being developed into a major sports hub for hosting the 2030 Commonwealth Games and making it an Olympic-ready city. The apex court was hearing an appeal against the April 17 judgment of the Gujarat High Court that had cleared the way for the state to reclaim around 45,000 square metres of land occupied by the Ashram in Motera, near the Narendra Modi Stadium. It had dismissed the Trust's challenge to eviction notices issued by revenue authorities. The High Court had held that the Trust violated conditions of land allotment and had encroached upon substantial areas, including portions of the Sabarmati riverbed, and rejected the petition for regularisation. It had been observed that any such indulgence would run contrary to established legal principles governing public land. Asaram founded the ashram in 1972, and is serving life imprisonment in multiple rape cases. (ANI)
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