Ahmedabad: Family settled at Sabarmati Ashram by Mahatma Gandhi to be evicted

AHMEDABAD: A family settled at the Sabarmati Ashram by Mahatma Gandhi has moved the Gujarat high court after the Sabarmati Ashram Gaushala Trust won a legal battle in a lower court, to have the family evicted from the premises.
Sonu Thosar, grandson of Babubhai Thosar who was relocated by Gandhi in the ashram along with artisans to make leather sandals as an Ashram employee, knocked at the HC doors after a city civi lcourt accepted the trust’s civil suit earlier this year.
In 1998, the trust had filed the suit claiming the land back from the family, stating that the descend ants of Thosar had no right over the land.
Gandhi had founded tannery sections in his ashrams at Sabarmati and Wardha. He settled craftsmen from rural areas, mainly from around Dholka, at Sabarmati Ashram.
They used to make sandals from the hides of dead cattle. The product was known as ‘ahimsa chappal’. Currently, there are five families including the Thosars, who are living on the ashram premises.
Family could not establish its right to premises
In February, the civil court ruled in favour of the trust and ordered the Thosar family which includes Babu Thosar's daughter-in-law and grandson Sonu, to hand over possession of the tenement to the trust. The family could not produce any document showing when they were settled in the Ashram by Gandhi, neither did they have any proof of rent paid to the trust.
On the other hand, the trust submitted that Babubhai Thosar was settled by Gandhi along with many craftsmen who were engaged in making sandals. The workshop was closed in 1969 and all the workers were relieved. Thosar’s family had no right to keep possession of the building, which was owned by the trust.
While issuing a notice in 1997, asking the family to vacate the premises, the trust sought Rs 300 in damages per month from the family till their further stay. The trust also argued that the family had not paid any money towards damages, hence, the court should pass a decree asking them to vacate the premises.
As the family could not establish their right to the premises, the civil court said that the house is located on land that has become a prime location in Ahmedabad city over the years. As visitors from all corners of the world throng Gandhi Ashram, it has become a valuable place and the family did not want to leave.