Haryana passes Aparna Institution bill amid walkout from Congress MLAs

Chandigarh: Amidst opposition from the Congress legislators, Haryana assembly on Friday passed the Aparna Institution (Taking Over of Management and Control) Bill, 2025, on the concluding day of the budget session here.
Soon after the bill was passed, the Congress MLAs, led by former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, staged a walkout. The opposition questioned the bill, claiming that the society was registered in New Delhi and it was under the jurisdiction of the Govt of NCT, Delhi, or the Union of India.
The govt, however, insisted that the bill was necessary to appoint an administrator to manage the trust and its assets in Haryana. Hooda along with B B Batra and other party legislators termed the bill unconstitutional and advised the govt to look for other options, especially attachments and taking possession of the properties in Gurugram, to protect these from getting misused by vested interests.
The opposition also demanded that the govt must mention the total worth of the land and also assure the House that its scope would be limited to the appointment of an administrator for the trust's properties and they shall not transfer or dispose of these properties to anyone else.
Notably, Aparna Ashram was created by yoga guru Dhirendra Brahmachari. The trust owns over 26 acres of prime land in Silokhera – the current day Sector 30 of Gurugram city. At present, the real estate value of the land concerned, as discussed in the assembly, is more than Rs 2,400 crore.
Due to an ongoing tussle among the trustees, the land in question was undervalued and sold off at throwaway rates of Rs 55 crore in the year 2020. However, the sale deed was cancelled by the district collector, Gurugram. The action was followed by litigation.
The bill was introduced in the House by industries and environment minister Rao Narbir Singh. Soon after Rao urged the speaker to put up the bill for consideration, former minister and Congress MLA from Rohtak city B B Batra raised objections and questioned the legality of the bill. Batra claimed that the Nayab Singh Saini govt did not have the jurisdiction to bring the bill.
"When the trust is registered in New Delhi and has assets in other places, how can the Haryana govt move such a bill? Legally, this may be challenged in the Punjab and Haryana high court. And, in case the govt is so keen on appointing an administrator, then it should have taken permission from the Union govt too, or should have followed the route of land revenue laws," said Batra.
Hooda joined Batra, asking the govt to use an alternate way of appointing an administrator for managing the properties of the trust.
Responding to the Congress legislators, Rao Narbir Singh presented the example of the Jammu and Kashmir govt, which acquired the property of the trust in a similar way. The minister reiterated that the govt shall not alienate or dispose of the said property to anybody else. This was endorsed by CM Nayab Singh Saini.
The debate on the bill lasted for over 20 minutes, and Congress MLAs tried to create a ruckus. As the speaker moved the resolution, the treasury benches passed the bill with a voice vote even as the opposition members staged a walkout.
Formation of Aparna Ashram (Box)
Dhirendra Brahmachari registered a society under the name of ‘Aparna Ashram' in 1973-74 under the Societies Registration Act with the registrar of societies, South-East district, New Delhi, for the dissemination of knowledge of yoga among the masses through education, research, training, and dissemination.