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Supreme Court asked Gujarat High Court to hear a fresh On Sabarmati Ashram Redevelopment Plan

Today Supreme Court today has asked Gujarat High Court to hear afresh Mahatma Gandhi’s great grandson Tushar Gandhi’s plea against Gujarat government’s plan to redevelop Sabarmati Ashram in Ahmedabad city.

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The court has set aside the high court’s November 21 verdict dismissing Tushar Gandhi’s plea against the plan which he contended will spoil pristine simplicity of the Ashram.

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The development comes as a setback for chief minister 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 DY 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 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.

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 physical structure of Sabarmati Ashram and spoil 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”.

The petitioner has also raised a point that the constitution of Gandhi Smarak Nidhi says the Ashram and memorials should be kept away from government and political influences.

Gujarat high court had dismissed Tushar Gandhi’s petition after the state government assured that it would not touch the three key attractions in the core one-acre area of Ashram and that the redevelopment would take place in the 55 acre-area surrounding it. The three major attractions at Sabarmati Ashram in Ahmedabad are the Gandhi Ashram, the museum inside and Magan Niwas.

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