The Gujarat government has challenged the maintainability of a public interest litigation by Tushar Gandhi, great grandson of Mahatma Gandhi, opposing the development plan for Sabarmati Ashram and its precinct, in the High Court Wednesday. Submitting that the existing five trusts themselves have given their in-principle approval to the project, the state also challenged the locus of the petitioner. The PIL, taken up for hearing for the third consecutive day by the Gujarat High Court, also opposed the formation of the new Mahatma Gandhi Sabarmati Ashram Memorial Trust (MGSAMT) in September 2021. The petitioner has raised an apprehension about government officials comprising majority of the members of the new trust. Five trusts — Sabarmati Ashram Preservation and Memorial Trust (SAPMT), Khadi Gramodyog Samiti Trust, Sabarmati Harijan Ashram Trust (SHAT), Sabarmati Ashram Gaushala Trust and Harijan Sevak Sangh — own and manage the erstwhile 120-acre Gandhi Ashram area. Representing the state government, Advocate General Kamal Trivedi submitted Wednesday, “Development of this project is for public purpose keeping in mind the reverence this country has for Mahatma Gandhi. They (five trusts) have not chosen to be the petitioners before this court, they have not chosen to doubt our (state’s) intentions. On the contrary they have chosen to grant in-principle consent. Under the circumstances, can this PIL be said to be maintainable?” Newsletter | Click to get the day's best explainers in your inbox Trivedi also pointed out that while the petitioner is the great grandson of Mahatma Gandhi, the fact remains that Mahatma Gandhi is father of the nation, “father of 140 crore people of this country” and that the figure of Mahatma is “sui generis”. The PIL is scheduled to be taken up for further hearing on Thursday.
