Haryana Assembly passes bill to take control of Dhirendra Brahmchari's Aparna Ashram in Gurugram

     Chandigarh, Mar 29 (PTI) Haryana Assembly on Friday passed a bill that will allow the state government to take over the management and control of the late Yoga Guru, Dhirendra Brahmchari's Aparna Ashram in Gurugram.
     As per the bill, for the past several years disputes have been going on between the Society and its members.
     The Assembly passed the Aparna Institution (Taking Over of Management and Control) Bill, 2025, which provides "for the taking over, in the public interest, for a limited period, for proper and efficient management and control of Aparna Institution situated within the revenue estate of Village Silokhra, district Gurugram".
     Congress members raised concerns regarding the bill, with party MLA B B Batra saying in the House, "This bill cannot be presented in this Assembly, presenting this bill in this House is illegal, it's a fraud on the constitution..it is beyond the jurisdiction of the government".
     Batra also claimed that the bill would not hold the legal ground and said it would get challenged in courts and then "we the lawmakers will get blamed for having passed this law".
     On Batra claiming that bringing the bill is beyond the jurisdiction of the government, Chief Minister Nayab Singh clarified that the bill does not bypass any central government laws; instead, all necessary processes are being followed in compliance with them.
     Congress' Batra said that Dhirendra Brahamchari's Society was registered in Delhi and not in Haryana.
     "If there is a dispute between members of the Society and if anybody has jurisdiction to appoint an administrator, that lies with the Delhi government. The Society is not registered under the Haryana Act," he said.
     As per the bill, Swami Dhirendra Brahmachari, a renowned yoga guru, who died in an aeroplane crash in June 1994, was of the view that yoga is the only solution to all the problems and diseases that are not been cured by allopathic or other types of treatments.
     He left no stone unturned to popularise yoga through physical demonstrations and speaking about its benefits, it said.
     Dhirendra Brahmachari incorporated and registered a Society under the name and style Aparna Ashram under the Societies Registration Act, 1860, with the Registrar of Societies, District South-East, New Delhi, having its registered office at New Delhi.
     He aimed to spread the useful knowledge of yoga among the masses through education, research, training and dissemination The said Society was made for the benefit of the public at large, therefore, the said Society comes within the definition of a public trust, as per the Bill.
     Apart from incorporating the said Society, Dhirendra Brahmachari also created an institution namely Aparna as a separate entity through an instrument of Memorandum of Institution (Mol) and constituted its independent Governing Council.
     In furtherance to set up, develop and establish the proposed institution, Brahamchari purchased land measuring over 24 acres situated within the revenue estates of Gurugram, in the name of Aparna Ashram with the help of donations, grants and the financial assistance received by him from time to time from the Central Government and vested the land in the institution.
     The institution is located near Sector 30, Gurugram.
     As per the bill, for the past several years disputes have been going on between the Society and its members and for the last more than two decades these groups have been litigating with each other.
     These groups are trying to illegally and unauthorisedly sell the aforesaid land and building of the institution against the aims and objects of the institution for their personal gains.
     There is every likelihood that the moveable and the immovable properties of the institution may get destroyed which will frustrate the very purpose with which the institution was created, as per the Bill.
     "Therefore, for the management, administration, control and regulating the activities of the institution, it is expedient in the public interest to take-over the management and control in order to achieve the aims and objectives of the institution and to fulfil the wish and will of a yoga guru," it says.
     Congress member Batra sought to know the provisions of the Constitution in which the Bill had been brought in the Assembly.
     Minister Rao Narbir Singh said that it has been presented under Article 31-A of the Constitution. He clarified that the government is not taking over the ownership of the Society or Institution.
     "Any property in which there is a dispute, which has taken grant from the government, the government can appoint an administrator," he told Batra.
     He said that the total land is over 24 acres with a current estimated market value of Rs 2,400 crore. "We do not want the land to go into the wrong hands, therefore the bill is being brought."
     Congress leader Bhupinder Hooda said, "This is a serious issue and not as simplified as it is being made out. We are not satisfied with the reply of the government".
     The Congress members staged a walkout. Before the walkout, Hooda said what stops the government from attaching this land and said under the provisions of the law it can do so.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)