Gujarat Land Restoration Status Report.

The financial expansion of Asaram Bapu's empire, valued at over ₹10,000 crore, relied heavily on extensive real estate acquisition. A significant portion of this land bank was acquired through systematic encroachment, document forgery, and illegal occupation of vacant government, municipal, and private plots. In May 2026, the Gujarat Revenue Department tabled an updated status report detailing the progress of reclaiming these properties from the Shree Yog Vedanta Sewa Samiti trust.

The origins of the land controversy date back to February 2009, when the Gujarat Legislative Assembly officially disclosed that Asaram's trust had illegally encroached upon 67,099 square meters of prime land in the Sabarmati and Motera areas of Ahmedabad. This encroachment involved the construction of ashram structures, residential quarters, and commercial units without necessary municipal clearances or land use permissions.

According to investigators, the trust's modus operandi involved identifying vacant land adjacent to existing ashram properties, deploying large groups of devotees to physically occupy the space, and constructing temporary religious structures to prevent eviction. In many cases, land records were forged or altered with the collusion of local revenue officials to show historical possession by the trust.

In February 2013, the Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) recommended the prosecution of Asaram and his key trustees for land grabbing and fraud worth over ₹700 crore. While criminal trials in these land cases progressed slowly compared to the rape prosecutions, several state governments initiated demolition drives. Ashrams in Navsari (Gujarat), Ratlam (Madhya Pradesh), and parts of Rajasthan were demolished after courts rejected the trust's ownership claims.

The May 2026 status report indicates that the Gujarat state government has successfully reclaimed approximately 45,000 square meters of the encroached land in Ahmedabad. Several illegal structures have been cleared, and the land has been restored to municipal and public use. However, approximately 22,000 square meters remain under litigation due to overlapping appeals filed by the trust in the Gujarat High Court.

In addition to the Ahmedabad properties, the report details ongoing proceedings regarding a 10-acre parcel in Navsari, which was cleared under police protection. The state prosecution has emphasized that the cancellation of Asaram's bail and his return to custody have reduced the trust's ability to mobilize followers to resist eviction, allowing local authorities to proceed with the execution of pending court orders.

The land restoration report highlights the immense difficulty of reclaiming public assets once they are occupied by influential religious groups. It also exposes the systemic loopholes in local land administration that allowed the trust to build a vast property empire with minimal regulatory interference over four decades.

This update outlines the current legal status of the land reclamation proceedings in Gujarat. It stands as a record of administrative and judicial efforts to enforce property laws and reclaim encroached public land from powerful spiritual institutions.