Guj HC dismisses PIL alleging encroachment at Gandhi Ashram

The Gujarat High Court today dismissed a public interest litigation which alleged that some politically influential persons had encroached upon the land of Sabarmati Ashram, set up by Mahatma Gandhi, here.
A division bench of acting Chief Justice V M Sahai and Justice R P Dholaria asked the petitioner to approach the charity commissioner instead, saying that there was no public interest involved in the petition.
Petitioner advocate Maulin Barot had alleged that Manav Sadhna Trust, an NGO, which had among its founder members Chief Minister Anandi Patel's daughter Anar Patel and her husband Jayesh Patel, had encroached upon the land of the Ashram.

Some persons with political clout were gradually disposing of the property of the Sabarmati Harijan Ashram Trust (popularly known as Gandhi Ashram), the PIL alleged.
The land, located in a prime area, was worth crores of rupees, it said, alleging that as per the information obtained under the Right to Information Act, the NGO was using it for commercial purposes after encroaching.
However, the state government said there was no encroachment upon the Ashram's land, following which the court dismissed the petition.