Gandhi Ashram redevelopment: HC issues notice to Gujarat govt, AMC, others on slum-dwellers plea

Advocate Anand Yagnik submitted before the court on Tuesday that “all petitioners have documentation to suggest they have been residing here for the past 25 years” and would thus be eligible for benefits under the Regulations for the Rehabilitation & Redevelopment of the Slums, 2010. The court issued notices, and kept them returnable for December 8.

The court also made a reference to a public interest litigation filed by the great grandson of Mahatma Gandhi, Tushar Gandhi, who sought a stay on the Ashram redevelopment project. The court did not entertain the PIL and had disposed it of last week. The court of Justice Vaishnav remarked that the “division bench actually said to file a civil suit for eviction (grievances)”. However, since the official order has not been made public as on date, the court of Justice Vaishnav did not pass any order.

The 55 petitioners sought that they be provided with an alternative accommodation within the vicinity or area and that the court direct the respondents to consider either providing ex gratia to the petitioners or an alternative parcel of land. As an immediate relief, the petitioners have sought that the court grant an ex-parte interim order directing the respondents to maintain status quo of the said slums situated behind the water tank of Gandhi Ashram and that the authorities be restrained from taking any coercive action against them.