The Supreme Court of India restrained the Gujarat government from coercive action against land of Asaram Bapu’s ashram in Ahmedabad, noting the municipal notice lacked particulars. The bench maintained status quo, satying the Gujarat High Court ruling on reclaiming Motera land.
The Supreme Court restrained the Gujarat government from taking coercive action against land and property belonging to the ashram of self-styled godman Asaram Bapu in Ahmedabad.
The court observed that the municipal authorities’ show-cause notice prima facie lacked material particulars.
A bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta ordered that the status quo be maintained, effectively pausing the Gujarat high court’s April 17 judgment.
That ruling had cleared the way for the state to reclaim about 45,000 square metres of land occupied by the Sant Shri Asaram Ashram in Motera, near the Narendra Modi Stadium.
The land is part of a larger 650-acre parcel set aside for the proposed Sardar Patel Sports Enclave, including an Olympic Village and related infrastructure linked to Ahmedabad’s bid for the 2036 Olympics and preparations for the 2030 Commonwealth Games.
The Supreme Court’s intervention followed its finding of apparent flaws at the very basis of the state’s action namely, the show-cause notice issued to the ashram. During the hearing, the bench repeatedly pressed the state to justify its case based solely on the notice. The court told solicitor general Tushar Mehta, who appeared for the Gujarat government,
“Ultimately, your case has to stand on your notice. Your notice prima facie lacks material particulars,”
The bench also questioned the government’s changing stand over the years. Referring to past regularisations, it noted that some portions of land initially described as encroachments had later been regularised by the authorities.
The court asked,
“So, you were benevolent that you regularised land despite calling it an encroachment. What happened overnight that you want it cancelled?”
The state argued that the ashram had gone beyond the original allotment of 6,261 square metres made in 1980, encroaching upon additional land that was subsequently regularised in phases.
It also relied on findings recorded by the high court regarding alleged unauthorised constructions and purported non-compliance with land-use conditions.
The bench said such allegations must be reflected in the notice itself.
Stressing that administrative action must be evaluated based on the reasons disclosed to the affected party, it asked,
“Where is all this mentioned in your notice?”
Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for the ashram, contended that the entire action was “illegal and mala fide”, alleging that the trust was being targeted because the land falls within the proposed sports development zone.
He argued that the ashram had valid sanction plans dating back to the 1980s and that eviction proceedings were initiated selectively, despite similar accommodations being granted to other entities.
The court granted the state three days to file its counter affidavit, and allowed the petitioners an equal period to respond. The matter has now been listed for May 5, with the bench directing that status quo continue in the interim.
The Supreme Court’s order effectively suspends the operation of the Gujarat high court’s April 17 decision. That judgment had dismissed the ashram’s challenge to eviction notices issued by revenue authorities.
The high court had concluded that the trust violated conditions of land allotment and had encroached upon substantial areas, including parts of the Sabarmati riverbed. It rejected the prayer for regularisation, noting that any such concession would conflict with established legal principles governing public land.
The court also declined to stay its judgment, allowing the state to proceed with reclaiming the land for the proposed sports infrastructure project.
Asaram, who founded the ashram in 1972, is serving life imprisonment in multiple rape cases. In 2018, a court in Jodhpur convicted him in a case of sexually assaulting a minor girl at his ashram in Rajasthan, sentencing him to life imprisonment.
He later received another life sentence in 2023 from a Gandhinagar court in a separate case involving a woman disciple, who was allegedly subjected to repeated sexual assault between 2001 and 2006.
He is currently out on medical bail, though the convictions remain in force.