In Varanasi, Occupants of Iconic Gandhian Institution Thrown Out, Land Taken Over

Usurped is the appropriate word for what happened in Varanasi on July 22, 2023, when the Government of India, through the  instrumentality of the Indian Railways and the active support of the Uttar Pradesh state government authorities, including the police, took over the lands (and buildings existing thereupon) legally belonging to a Gandhian institution, the Akhil Bharat Sarva Seva Sangh. All the occupants were evicted and eight persons who protested the action, were detained.

The events of July 22 were the culmination of a long-drawn, complicated saga going back to the time of independence, stretched over three distinct phases – 1948 to 2006, 2007 to 2022, and January 2023 onwards. It is important to grasp the timeline for it points to a larger question, namely the place accorded to Gandhian institutions in the consciousness of India’s journey post-independence.

Phase I: 1948-2006

• April 1948: The Akhil Bharat Sarva Seva Sangh (ABSSS) was formed by Acharya Vinoba Bhave to propagate Mahatma Gandhi’s ideas and philosophy by merging five organisations engaged in constructive work, namely the Akhil Bharat Charkha Sangh, Akhil Bharat Gram Udyog Sangh, Akhil Bharat Gau Seva Sangh, Hindustani Taleemi Sangh, and Maharogi Seva Mandal. ABSSS was set up as a registered society.
• May 15, 1960: ABSSS bought 2.65 acres of land from the “President of the Union of India through Divisional Engineer, Northern Railway, Lucknow” by way of a sale deed duly registered with the appropriate authority.
• March 1960: ABSSS, at the suggestion of Jayaprakash Narayan, decided to set up an institution, the Gandhian Institute of Studies (GIS) in collaboration with the Gandhi Smarak Nidhi (Gandhi Memorial Fund), at Rajghat, in Varanasi, where its own headquarters was located.
• January 24, 1961: The Gandhian Institute of Studies (established under the auspices of ABSSS) was registered with the Registrar of Societies.
• January 26-27, 1961: It was decided that the Gandhi Smarak Nidhi would set up the infrastructure for GIS.
• May 19, 1961: ABSSS bought 1.12 acres of land from the “President of the Union of India through Divisional Engineer, Northern Railway, Lucknow” by way of a sale deed duly registered with the appropriate authority.
• November 28, 1963: A lease deed was executed, leasing two parcels of land (1,453.78 sq. yards and 929 sq. yards) totalling 2,382.78 sq. yards, to the Uttar Pradesh Gandhi Smarak Nidhi (the lessor) “only for the use of Gandhi Vidya Sansthan”, or the Institute, by the ABSSS (the lessee) for a period of 30 years at an annual rent of Re 1. The lease deed stated that if the lessor, GIS, shifted or ceased to function, the ownership/possession of the leased land would revert to the lessee, ABSSS.
• May 20, 1970: ABSSS bought 2.99 acres of land from the “President of the Union of India through Divisional Engineer, Northern Railway, Lucknow” by way of a sale deed duly registered with the appropriate authority.
• Early 1980s: The Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR), an organisation set up by the Government of India to support and fund research in the social sciences, contributed Rs 3 lakh for the extension of the Institute’s library building.
• 2002: The assistant registrar, firms, societies and chits, Varanasi, moved Misc. Application No. 243 of 2002, before the additional district judge, under Section 13(B) of the Societies Registration Act, 1860, seeking dissolution of the Institute on the grounds that it had ceased to function. Despite the fact that the chairpersons of ABSSS and the UP Gandhi Smarak Nidhi, respectively, were ex-officio members of GIS,  no notice was sent to them despite the fact that they were necessary parties.
• June 29, 2003: Varanasi district magistrate Chandrabhanu, in Letter No. 1043(742) to the principal secretary, planning in the Uttar Pradesh government (Lucknow), among other things, wrote:

“Land Ownership Status: The land of Gandhi Vidya Sansthan [GIS], Rajghat, Varanasi has been declared as belonging to Sarva Seva Sangh [ABSSS] vide letter dated 23.05.2003 from Mr. Sandeep Pandey, Member Board of Management. In this regard, the Revenue Department got it examined.

According to this, Gandhi Vidya Sansthan is located in Khata No. 33, A.No. 8 M and 9 M, of Village Qila Kohna, Pargana Dehat, Amanat, Tehsil Sadar, whose area is 2.134 hectares. This land belongs to Jamman-14 under Non-ZA. The name of Bhartiya Sarva Seva Sangh is inscribed as its owner. Photocopy of the report and site map received from the Deputy Collector (Sadar) is being attached for your perusal.”

The Akhil Bharat Sarva Seva Sangh, Varanasi. Photo: Facebook/Priyanka Gandhi Vadra

Phase II: 2007-2022

• May 28, 2007: The additional district judge ordered the dissolution of the GIS and issued an additional direction to the secretary of higher education in Uttar Pradesh to constitute a management committee within 45 days so that  studies did not get disturbed due to the dissolution.
• 2007: ABSSS filed Writ Petition no.29975 of 2007 in the Allahabad high court seeking quashing of the additional district judge’s order of May 28, 2007.

Phase III: January 2023 onwards

• January 2023: Enter Moinuddin, a villager and resident of Kilakohna village, located in Dehat Amaanat pargana of Sadar tehsil in Varanasi district. Moinuddin submitted several applications to various authorities, including the deputy collector of the Varanasi circle, in Varanasi district, on January 16, 2023, under the UP State Code 2006, stating that a particular piece of  land had been wrongly entered in the records as belonging to the Akhil Bharat Sarva Seva Sangh when it actually belonged to the East Indian Railway. The application was referred to the Sadar tehsildar in Varanasi for an enquiry and report.
• January 7, 2023: The tehsildar wrote to the Northern Railway authorities enquiring about the ownership of the land.
• April 10, 2023: Northern Railway responded to the tehsildar claiming ownership of the land.
• May 16, 2023: The Allahabad high court delivered its judgment in Writ Petition no.29975 of 2007, and decided that:

“10. In the light of the above this court is of the view that the dispute pertaining to the ownership of the said property needs to be resolved. In case if, it is found that the petitioners are the true owners of the said property then possession of the said property should revert back to the petitioner. In this regard it is necessary that the competent authority should go through the various documents including the lease deed as stated by the petitioners which was executed between the petitioner no.2 and respondent no.6. In case, it is found the petitioners are the owners of the property then the possession of the same should be reverted to the petitioners. To ascertain the aforesaid the District Magistrate, Varanasi is directed to examine the relevant records and come to a conclusion regarding the ownership of the said property expeditiously, say, within a period of two months from the date a certified copy of this order is produced before him in accordance with law, and pass a reasoned and speaking order after examining all relevant documents (emphasis added).”

• May 31, 2023: With the understanding that a district magistrate (an executive officer appointed by the government) deciding a “dispute pertaining to the ownership of the said property” in which the government itself was one of the parties to the dispute, was a clear case of conflict of interest and therefore against the principle of natural justice, ABSSS filed a civil suit, Case No. 522/2023, at the  court of civil judge (senior division) in Varanasi, seeking, among other things, a declaration of title: “…by way of decree declare that the plaintiffs are owners and in continuous possession of the property described below in Item ‘A’ for decades and the plaintiff no.1 is the sole owner and in possession of the same (emphasis added).”
• June 26, 2023: Following the direction of the Allahabad high court in its judgement of May 16, 2023, Varanasi district magistrate, S. Rajalingam, gave his decision saying, “I come to the conclusion that the land/area mentioned in the sale deeds dated 15.05.1960, 09.05.1961 and 20.05.1970 belongs to Northern Railway.”
• June 27, 2023: The Northern Railway administration issued the following notice:

“It is informed to all the encroachers that, in the sequence of Letter No. 1339 / Ra.Shah.First/2023 of the District Magistrate / Varanasi, on June 30, 2023, from 09:00 am on Friday, at the northern end of Kashi Railway Station, in the land of Northern Railway adjacent to GT Road, the demolition of illegal constructions constructed by Sarva Seva Sangh will be done by the Railway Administration.

Therefore, all the encroachers are informed to vacate the railway land immediately.

By order
Northern Railway Administration
Date 27.06.2023″

• June 28, 2023: ABSSS filed Writ Petition no. 21078 of 2023 in the Allahabad high court challenging the district magistrate’s order of June 26, 2023, and the notice of the Northern Railway administration dated June 27, 2023.
• July 3, 2023: The Allahabad high court rejected the petition of ABSSS.
• July 4, 2023: ABSSS filed a special leave petition, SLP no.14209 of 2023, in the Supreme Court of India (SCI), challenging the Allahabad high court judgment of July 3, 2023.
• July 17, 2023: The SCI declined to entertain the SLP saying, inter alia, “However, it is made clear that the observations made in this order is only for the purpose of the Special Leave Petition and the same should have no bearing on the merit of the contentions to be advanced in the Civil Suit (OS No.522 of 2023) pending before the Court.”
• July 22, 2023: The Railway administration forcibly, with the help of the police, took over the land and buildings, evicting all occupants and throwing out all their belongings.

What does all this mean?

It is true that the struggle of Gandhian institutions in the prevailing social and political context is much larger. However, as a major part of that struggle is presently in the legal arena, it is necessary to focus on the salient questions of legal issues and motives that the timeline raises.

A protest at the Sarva Seva Sangh. Photo: Special arrangement

Three major legal issues

The first legal issue: Mentioned briefly above, it pertains to conflict of interest and principles of natural justice occasioned by the Allahabad high court judgment of May 16, 2023. The petition that the court was deciding, sought the quashing of the order of the additional district judge dissolving the Institute. In case the dissolution was not quashed, the petition sought an order for the disposal of GIS’s attests and properties in terms of the Memoranda of Association between itself and its founder, ABSSS. The high court, while recognising that this was in the nature of a property ownership dispute between the government (Indian Railways) and a private party, ordered a government-appointed executive officer, district magistrate, to decide the entire issue.

The second legal issue: The Supreme Court and the Allahabad high court  having effectively taken away the jurisdiction of the court of the civil judge, Varanasi, to decide that title of the suit. It may be said in defence of both the constitutional courts that the high court has said in its judgment:

“However, it is always open to the petitioners to press the injunction application filed alongwith the aforesaid Original Suit before the Court below (and) The observations made by this Court would not affect the rights/titles of the parties in the on-going proceeding and the same would be decided on its own merits.”

 Similarly, the Supreme Court has said:

“However, it is made clear that the observations made in this order is only for the purpose of the Special Leave Petition and the same should have no bearing on the merit of the contentions to be advanced in the Civil Suit (OS No.522 of 2023) pending before the Court.”

Without meaning any disrespect to the two courts, it must be said that these pious and well-meaning observations, made on July 3 and July 17, have no practical relevance without staying the notice of the Northern Railway threatening demolition starting “on June 30, 2023, from 09:00 am”.

The fact is that the possession of the building and the land was taken by force on July 22, 2023. It is very much in the realm of possibility that the buildings may be demolished before any action is forthcoming from the lower civil court. In any case, a large number of invaluable books and documents, thrown about mindlessly by the police force during the eviction, have been irretrievably damaged.

The third legal issue pertains to the onus of proof regarding the correctness, validity, and the legality of the three sale deeds. All the three sale deeds, as has been mentioned above, are between the “President of the Union of India through Divisional Engineer, Northern Railway, Lucknow,” and are duly registered with the appropriate authorities.

Reading the Varanasi district magistrate’s decision of June 26, 2023, makes for an interesting exercise. The first objection of the Northern Railway, as recorded in this order, is that “on the sale deed, only the designation of Divisional Engineer Northern Railway Lucknow is mentioned, his name is not mentioned.”

This is plain wrong as the reverse side of page 2 of the sale deed, dated May 15, 1960, has a note saying, “Having satisfied myself that this deed has been executed by Sri G.C. Banerji, Divisional Engineer, Northern Railway, Lucknow in his official capacity. His attendance and signature are dispensed with and the doct. (sic) is admitted to registration.” So, the name of the divisional engineer is not a mystery.

It is worth noting that the sale deed is also signed by the “Divisional Superintendent, Northern Railway, Lucknow” along with his stamp on each page. The divisional superintendent (now re-designated as the divisional railway manager) is the head of the division in the railway system, a superior of the divisional engineer.

Some of the other objections by the Northern Railway, as summarised in the district magistrate’s order of June 26, 2023, were as following:

• “Indian Railways has never had any policy of selling land to any private organisation or person.”
• “The Chief Engineer in Railway is authorised for licensing and lease deed. The Divisional Engineer does not have the said right.”
• “Due to non-vesting of right to sell in Divisional Engineer and non-presentation of authority letter regarding sale of railway land by Divisional Engineer, the legality of the said three sale deeds is questionable, the said sale deeds are forged.”

What is astounding is that after listening to the above, the district magistrate asked ABSSS to provide proof that the divisional engineer did indeed have the requisite authority, under Railway Rules, to execute the sale deeds, recording the following:

“After listening to the concerned parties, the petitioner Akhil Bharat Sarva Seva Sangh [ABSSS] was asked to provide the records on the following two points for the disposal of the case:

1. Whether any correspondence / order has been issued by the Railways to sell the said gaate (sic) from the Railways or from the plaintiff? If done, a copy of the same should be made available.

2. Whether any letter/notification was issued by the Railways to authorise the sale of the property mentioned in the sale deeds dated 15.05.1960, 09.05.1961 and dated 20.05.1970 executed by Divisional Engineer Northern Railway?”

The astounding bit is that while Northern Railway is a party to the dispute, it is the other party to the dispute that was asked to provide proof of actions that the Railway should have taken!

It is on this basis of shifting the onus of proof that the following conclusion is recorded:

“In order of paragraph 804 Relinquishment of Railway Land of Railway Works Manual by Akhil Bharat Sarva Seva Sangh, in relation to the release of the said land by the Railways and in the order of Point No. 1041 Power of Sanction of Chapter 10 of the Indian Railway Code, no record related to any reference of Railway Board was made available [obviously by the ABSSS]. The Indian Evidence Act and Section 88 of Registration Act provided by it are irrelevant in this case. Neither any letter/notification issued by the Railways to sell the property mentioned be made available by the representatives of Akhil Bharat Sarva Seva Sangh, nor was any authority letter/notification issued by the Railways in favour of the Divisional Engineer Northern Railway to execute the sale deed could be made available [again, obviously by the ABSSS]. Thus, the petitioner Akhil Bharat Sarva Se[v]a Sangh has completely failed to prove its ownership over the property allegedly purchased. Akhil Bharat Sarva Seva Sangh did not provide any authentic evidence/records to confirm the legality of the sales letters of the years 1960, 1961 and 1970. It is clear from the above that the land mentioned in the sale deeds dated 15.05.1980, 09.05.1961 and dated 20.05.1970 belongs to Northern Railway (emphasis added).”

The issue of motive

In order to infer the motive behind this action, it is necessary to look at some documentary evidence.

What the chronology says: The lands were acquired through sale deeds and consideration paid into the government treasury (each of the three sale deeds specifically mention the treasury challan number and date) in 1960, 1961 and 1970.

Things were quiet for over 30 years. Then:

• In 2002, the assistant registrar of societies initiated some action.
• That action lay dormant for five years when, in 2007, the additional district judge (ADJ) made a decision.
• ABSSS filed an appeal in the Allahabad high court against the additional district judge’s order.
• Nothing significant happened to that appeal for 13 years. Then, a hitherto unknown individual, Moinuddin, entered the scene in early January 2023 and a flurry of action followed on the part of the district administration, Northern Railway, even the judiciary, which still continues.

Did something happen in the months or years immediately preceding January 2023 that caused this flurry of action?

Police at the Sarva Seva Sangh. Photo: Special arrangement

Why now? The clue may lie in the documents

In an affidavit filed by the Railways in the Supreme Court on July 13, 2023, paragraphs 4 to 10, spread over five pages (pages 4-8) are titled Details of the Project in which Petitioner’s Alleged/Claimed Land Falls. These paragraphs, after describing the ancient and religious significance of Varanasi, give some details of what is “envisaged [as] a mega project of construction of ‘Inter-Modal Station’ (IMS) at Varanasi (Kashi Railway Station) which contemplates creation of an (sic) novel infrastructure which could act as a gateway to road and waterway routes in addition to the rail network”.

While this affidavit mentions two sub-projects – upgradation of the Kashi railway station to provide “modern, state of the art amenities for the passengers and the city dwellers” and “major remodelling of Kashi yard (involving expansion of tracks and platforms to accommodate more trains and passengers with allied facilities and infrastructure, both for train operation and passenger comfort)” – it does not disclose one vital piece of information.

A quick online search unearthed two reports, one by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) and the National Highways Logistics Management Limited (NHLML), both public sector companies, and the other by the international consultants, PwC. Slide 7 of the NHAI/NHLML report shows the location of ABSSS land clearly in reference to the proposed development.

Slide 10 of the same report shows that three hotels (including one luxury hotel), one Hotel Plaza, and a multi-storied commercial building are also part of the “Master Plan of IMS Kashi”.

ABSSS finds mention at two places in this report. Slide 14 says, “Sarva Se[v]a Sangh, Mathh Shri Niwas BhagwanJi and Private Land would need to be acquired” and Slide 19 says “State Govt/VDA to acquire Sarv[a] Se[v]a Sangh land of 1.3 acre”.

The crucial giveaway in this report is its date – July 30, 2022. Herein lies the answer to the question as to what happened in the months or years immediately preceding January 2023 that caused this flurry of action?

It does not require rocket science to speculate that when the need for “acquiring” the land belonging to ABSSS came to be realised – on, or before, July 30, 2022 – the “authorities” came to an assessment that:

• the Gandhians would not be willing to “sell” the land at any price; and
• they would resist the process of acquisition under the current land acquisition law in force in the country, which would result in delay and uncertainty.

Hence the decision to “acquire” the land by other means.

The other report, by consultants PwC, repeats many things contained in the NHAI/NHLML report but also reveals two new issues which, though not related to the ABSSS issue, are important from a larger societal viewpoint. Slide 13 of the PwC report states:

“The proposed site is approx. 200m from the Kachhua wildlife Sanctuary. Wildlife clearance is required from National Board of Wildlife (NBWL) for development of project within 10 km of protected area.”

Slide 15 of the report says:

“The project site is abutting the Rajghat archaeological site, which is under Archaeological Survey of India (ASI). Construction is prohibited within 100m range from the boundary of the heritage site, and is known as prohibited area. This may lead to some non-usable area for IMS development in the available land.

From 100 m to 300m, the area is known as regulated area. For construction in regulated area, approval from National Monuments Authority is required which takes approx. 3-4 months.”

The conclusion that logically flows from the above is as follows: There was an urgency to “acquire” the land owned by the Akhil Bharat Sarva Seva Sangh for the commercial development of the ‘Inter-Modal Station’ at Varanasi (Kashi Railway Station). As straightforward legal means were not likely to work, the purpose would have to be achieved by hook or by crook.

In the meanwhile, the Gandhian struggle goes on.

Jagdeep S. Chhokar is a concerned citizen.