Landmark Judgment of Madras High Court

“The World knows ‘Auroville’ is a haven of unity and peace. But however, of late, it is disheartening to know that the sweat, blood and tears of its founders namely Sri Aurobindo and The Mother are getting shattered due to the infighting between some of the groups in Auroville,” were the opening remarks of Justice Abdul Quddhose in his judgement on August 12th on a batch of three writ petitions filed by three Auroville residents against the Auroville Foundation.

The issues

The issues the judge considered were:

(1) whether the Governing Board of the Auroville Foundation can restrict the functioning of the Residents’ Assembly on account of the alleged non updating of the Register of Residents;

(2) whether the office order passed by the Governing Board of the Auroville Foundation appointing official spokespersons as Executives of “Auroville Outreach Media” and replacing the current Executive without the consent of the Residents’ Assembly is valid; and

(3) whether the Governing Board has the authority to reconstitute the Auroville Town Development Council and appoint its members.

Locus standi and Outreach Media

The judge also considered whether the respective petitioners had the locus standi to file their writ petitions. He dismissed the writ petition filed against the appointment of new executives of Outreach Media on the ground that the writ petitioner had no locus standi to challenge the appointment as she was a fellow Aurovilian and not the affected former executive.

The Residents’ Assembly

He, however, allowed the other two writ petitions. Regarding the functioning of the Residents’ Assembly, the judge held that the Governing Board under the Auroville Foundation Act cannot take a unilateral decision on its own and restrict the functioning of the Residents’ Assembly, as the functions of the Residents’ Assembly are statutory functions as prescribed under Section 19 of the Act and the Governing Board cannot act unilaterally without consulting the Residents’ Assembly, though the Governing Board is the authority under the Statute to accord final approval.

The Master Plan

The judge stated that in accordance with the Auroville Foundation Act, the Auroville Master Plan must be formulated in consultation with the Residents’ Assembly and that only in consultation with the Residents’ Assembly any change of Master Plan for Auroville can be made. “Only after consultation with the Residents’ Assembly, the Governing Board is empowered to prepare the Master Plan for the International Cultural Township of Auroville. The Master Plan for Auroville will have to be prepared keeping in mind the best interest of its residents and that is the reason why the Act stipulates that the consultation by the Governing Board with the Residents’ Assembly is mandatory before preparation of the Master Plan.”

The Auroville Town Development Council

The judge therefore stated that the Auroville Town Development Council, being the body which is entrusted with the task of preparing the Master Plan for Auroville, cannot unilaterally appoint members without consultation of the Residents’ Assembly. For “if that is allowed to happen, the interest of the residents of Auroville may get defeated. The Auroville Foundation is meant for the residents, who follow the noble and divine ideals of the Mother’s Charter.” The

judge held that “any reconstitution of the Auroville Town Development Council can be done only after consultation with the Residents’ Assembly that too, by a proper resolution passed by the Residents’ Assembly.” Hence, the judge quashed the Office Order reconstituting the Auroville Town Development Council as being violative of the Auroville Foundation Act, as well as the Standing Orders issued from time to time by the Foundation. He allowed the petitioner to file the Writ Petition as the petitioner is a resident and a member of the Residents’ Assembly and the impugned Office Order “is detrimental to his interest as well as the interest of Residents’ Assembly and therefore he has got locus standi to file the writ petition.”

The Register of Residents.

Justice Quddhose then elaborated on the Register of Residents. “This court is of the considered view that only after the Register of Residents is updated and all eligible residents are registered as members of the Residents’ Assembly, the democratic set up of the foundation can be achieved … Only when the Register of Residents is updated, the Foundation which has been created for fulfillment of the noble ideals of the Mother’s Charter will be successful as the Foundation will have to run through the collective decisions of the Governing Board, Residents’ Assembly and the International Advisory Council.” He directed the Secretary of the Auroville foundation to update the Register and ordered that “till the Register of Residents Assembly is updated, the four statutory bodies namely (a) Governing Board, (b) Residents’ Assembly, (c) Working Group of Residents’ Assembly and (d) International Advisory Council shall not take any policy decision which alters the existing structure and working of the Auroville Foundation. Once the Register of Residents Assembly is updated by the Secretary of the Auroville foundation, all the four statutory authorities referred to supra shall act in accordance with the Auroville Foundation Act and its rules.”

Concluding remarks

Before parting with the case, Justice Quddhose reminded all the parties of the motto “United we stand, divided we fall”. “If all the four statutory authorities under the Auroville Foundation Act work together having the Mother’s Charter in mind, the noble and lofty ideals of Sir Aurobindo and The Mother will certainly be achieved and there will be peace and prosperity for the Residents of Auroville. This Court is confident that all the parties to the dispute will forget the recent unpleasant incidents and work together in terms of the Mother’s Charter in future.”

Appeal

The Auroville Foundation filed an appeal against this judgement. On August 26th, the

appellate bench of the Madras High Court led by its Chief Justice passed an interim stay order for two weeks on the ground that the directions given by Justice Quddhose are beyond the 'prayers' of the petition.

The case continues.

The discussion section of the judgment



Before arriving at his conclusions, Justice Quddhose elaborated his views in the “discussion” section of his judgement.

Justice Quddhose stated that “under the Auroville Foundation Act, there are three statutory authorities who jointly administer and manage the Foundation and they are a) Governing Body, b) International Advisory Council and c) Residents Assembly and all the three are having well defined powers and one cannot override the power of the other”.

He clarified that “the nature of the enactment shows that there is no place for egoistic thinking as all the three authorities will have to jointly work for the achievement of The Mother’s Charter. The relationship between the three authorities is of mutuality. In this world, as Sri Aurobindo says, there are always three terms of existence: the individual, the group in which he lives, and largest group which is humanity as a whole. And nobody can get rid of these terms. The world cannot get rid of groups and the individuals, individual cannot give up group or their largest group, and no group can exist without a membership of individuals and the largest group around. The three are inter related.

“There is a spiritual unity between the three namely the individual, groups and the largest group. Therefore, if you are really spiritually governed, you will see mutuality of the three. Sri Aurobindo says ‘by no mechanical law can you attain to this mutuality’. It is only when you develop true brotherhood and you exercise true brotherhood that this mutuality can be experienced and can be realized.”

Justice Quddhose then considered that “The Auroville Foundation Act has been enacted to fulfill the noble and divine ideals of Sri Aurobindo and The Mother and to develop brotherhood. The enactment prescribes brotherhood and is of such a nature that you are bound, even if you want to throw away brotherhood, you are bound to have it, it’s like a spiritual compulsion”.

He further stated that “Under the Auroville Foundation Act, Auroville will be administered by the people of Auroville. Secondly, as long as the people of Auroville want to develop Auroville in accordance with the Charter of Auroville, they have full freedom to do so. Even the Governing Board of the Auroville Foundation cannot infringe upon the Residents of Auroville as long as they follow the Auroville Charter. However, the Governing Board, of course, has the power of control and supervision and to see that everything is run smoothly and, particularly, that it is bound to promote the ideals of Auroville.”

Justice Quddhose further stated that “any policy decision for the Foundation will have to be taken collectively by the Governing Board, Residents’ Assembly and Working Committee of the Residents’ Assembly. But, the Governing Board has to accord its final approval. The Foundation has been primarily established for the welfare of the residents of Auroville, who are followers of the Charter of Auroville, whose primary teachings are human unity, peace and progress. The establishment of Auroville by the Mother, whose residents are nationalities from various countries including India, would go to show the Mother’s desire that Auroville should act as a shining example for human unity, peace and progress despite its diversity.”

The judge concluded that any decision concerning the Foundation will have to necessarily get the concurrence of the residents and that any policy decision of the Foundation can be taken by the Governing Board only in consultation with the Residents’ Assembly