Shahibaug site where Bapu shook Raj now shaky

Ahmedabad: To most people, the 107-year-old Shahibaug Circuit House may be just another ageing structure with "diagonal cracks" and "water leakage". But in India's history, the building is the site of Mahatma Gandhi's declaration in 1922 that British rule is shaky because it is "morally bankrupt".At the time, Bapu was 53, frail, and facing sedition charges, but he took on the Raj edifice during "The Great Trial" that occurred at the Shahibaug Circuit House.The building is now at the center of a more prosaic debate between state engineers of the roads and building (R&B) department and AMC's heritage authorities over whether it should be demolished or restored.In the Great Trial on March 18, 1922, Bapu was prosecuted for sedition under Section 124A of the Indian Penal Code over three articles published in Young India. British intelligence was monitoring him under the code name "AAA", viewing his writings as a serious threat to imperial authority.The circuit house now faces a serious existential threat. In a letter dated Dec 12, 2025, the executive engineer of the R&B department stated that "the arch-type brick wall in lime and mortar" building suffers from "structural settlement" on both sides of the ground floor.The defect, the letter stated, had resulted in major "diagonal cracks" in the brick-and-lime-mortar walls. The structure, the letter said, "also shows continuous cracks along the first-floor gallery and frequent water leakage in Rooms 6 and 13 because of which these rooms have not been used for seven years."Based on these defects, the building has been placed in the "G-4" category, indicating severe structural damage where roughly half of the primary elements have either collapsed or are in a dangerous condition. The department warned that continued use could lead to "untoward incidents."The R&B department has argued that retrofitting would cost 84.5% of the expense of constructing a new building. Under govt regulations, retrofitting is recommended only if costs remain below 30% of new construction.Since the retrofitting cost for the circuit house exceeds that limit nearly threefold, the department concluded that it was "advisable to demolish the building."That conclusion was rejected by the Ahmedabad World Heritage City Trust, a body under the AMC which responded in a formal letter dated Dec 22, 2025.The trust described the circuit house as a building possessing "heritage values and beautiful architectural art" and emphasized that it holds Grade-1 heritage status, the highest level of protection under the ‘Tentative Listing Excluding walled city-heritage list (draft)'.Based on the building's historical and cultural importance, the Trust wrote, "advice to demolish it does not seem appropriate."Any restoration work, it added, would require prior approval from the State-level Heritage Conservation Committee (HCC). HCC member Rizwan Kadri told TOI, "I was informed of the R&B department's demolition proposal and I believe the decision should be reviewed."Kadri said, "The Shahibaug Circuit House is the physical space where the moral authority of the British Empire dissolved."He added, "It is where Bapu as a ‘farmer and weaver' proved that an idea — Truth and Nonviolence — was stronger than the world's most powerful military."The Trust mandated that the "structure undergo repair and restoration strictly in accordance with heritage conservation guidelines" and stated that "demolition is legally prohibited under Schedule 19 of the Comprehensive General Development Control Regulations."