Author: Express News Service
Publication: The Indian Express
Date: July 25, 2001
The Supreme Court today ordered
the Haryana Government to take back the 500 acres of forest land Chandra
Shekhar had added to his controversial Bhondsi Ashram after he became Prime
Minister in 1990.
A bench comprising Justice M B Shah
and Justice R P Sethi directed the state government to take possession
of the 500 acres and report compliance by July 31.
On a public interest petition filed
by advocate B L Wadehra, the court said that the legality of the remaining
land of the Bhondsi Ashram-about 70 acres-will be considered after two
weeks.
Chandra Shekhar set up the Ashram
in 1983 about 40 km from Delhi after a padyatra he took from Kanyakumari
to Rajghat. The Ashram, run by a trust called the Bharat Yatra Kendra,
was originally spread over only 50 acres, gifted by the Bhondsi Panchayat
to be used for charitable purposes.
In his petition filed two years
ago, Wadehra not only questioned the manner in which there was a ten-fold
increase of the Ashram land over the years but also alleged that Chandra
Shekhar was misusing the land.
Following the allegations made in
Wadehra's petition, the Bharat Yatra Kendra on its own returned nine acres
of land it had grabbed from the Border Security Force in March 1990.
A committee set up by the apex court
on Wadehra's suggestion discovered that the Bhondsi Panchayat gifted 500
acres of forest land to the Ashram through resolutions passed in November
1990 (when Chandra Shekhar was Prime Minister) and July 1994.
In its reports submitted in March
and April this year, the committee also found that the transfer of the
forest land was illegal especially because it never received the necessary
approval from the state government.
It was on the basis of the committee's
findings that the Supreme Court today ordered immediate takeover of the
forest land from the Ashram. The court passed the order despite repeated
pleas for adjournment by Chandra Shekhar's counsel, S K Verma, who said
that Kapil Sibal, the senior advocate engaged by his client, was away in
Parliament.
While directing the state to take
possession of the 500 acres, the court asked the officials concerned to
report as to how many trees actually exist on it and to ensure that no
tree is chopped hereafter. The Bharat Yatra Kendra had acquired the forest
land claiming that it would undertake afforestation of the entire area.
The committee also gave adverse
findings on the remaining land of the Ashram where various buildings have
come up over the years for the benefit of Chandra Shekhar and his associates.
In fact, the judicial action has come at a time when Chandra Shekhar is
constructing an ambitious five-storeyed ''international seminar house.''
Additional solicitor general Kiri Rawal, appearing for the Centre, supported
Wadehra's petition against the Bhondsi Ashram.