High court panel's survey of Asaram's ashram incomplete

Failing to locate the survey stones for reference in demarcation of land, the team of revenue officials on Saturday could not complete measurement of the land of Asaram Ashram.

The measurement of land would be done next week on the basis of the two reference points that were eventually marked by the team.

“The team of revenue officials was led by the commissioner appointed by the High Court.
However, they could not trace the survey stone for reference to carry out demarcation of the land,” said Ashram’s advocate Anil Naidu.

“We have started the process of measurement of Ashram land on which encroachment has been done. The measurement could not be done and the remaining work will be completed by next Saturday,” said Tehsildar Bajrang Bahadur Singh.

The district administration had issued a notice to self-styled godman Asaram Bapu’s ashram for allegedly violating several conditions of land lease and encroaching the government land adjacent to the Ashram.

In the process, the Tehsildar had conducted measurement of land for alleged encroachment. However, Ashram challenged the notice in High Court claiming that it had not encroached upon the land and the measurement was faulty.

The High Court had appointed a Commissioner Aniketan Naik (advocate) for measurement of the land.

“Since the previous measurement was done without prior information to the Ashram authorities and in absence of any representative of the Ashram, we had challenged the notice,” said Naidu.

The team eventually identified two points on the land for reference and the measurement would be done on the basis of these points, added Naidu.