Overview
- A division bench led by Chief Justice Sunita Agarwal and Justice D.N. Ray dismissed the Sant Shri Asharam Trust’s appeals, affirming resumption of more than 45,000 square metres in Motera.
- The court found repeated breaches of allotment terms and said illegal occupation cannot be regularised, including any encroachment on the Sabarmati riverbed.
- State evidence using GPS and satellite maps showed the ashram’s footprint grew from the sanctioned 33,980 square metres to nearly 50,000, extending onto government and river land.
- The government will issue a fresh eviction notice under Section 202 of the Land Revenue Code, which allows authorities to recover possession after notice, after the bench declined a four-week stay the trust sought to approach the Supreme Court.
- The land sits next to the Narendra Modi Stadium and the Sardar Patel Sports Complex, an area the state ties to new facilities planned for a proposed 2030 Commonwealth Games push and longer-term Olympic aims.