The pending court cases

The Auroville Foundation Act 1988

In 1988, when the term of the Auroville Emergency Provisions Act 1980 came to a close, the Government of India prepared a new Act. It had found that “Under the management of the Central Government and under the overall guidance of the International Advisory Council set up under the aforesaid Act [the Auroville Emergency Provisions Act 1980, eds.], Auroville had been able to develop during the last eight years along several important lines and the residents of Auroville have also carried on activities for the development of Auroville which need further encouragement and consolidation.” The Central Government therefore promulgated the Auroville Foundation Act 1988, “An Act to provide for the acquisition and transfer of the undertakings of Auroville and to vest such undertakings in a foundation established for this purpose, with a view to making long-term arrangements for the better management and further development of Auroville in accordance with its original Charter and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto.” As Auroville’s assets were created with the aid of donations received from different organisations and individuals inside and outside India, the Government acquired these assets without paying any compensation, to vest them later in the Auroville Foundation. The Auroville Foundation came into existence on 29th January 1991, and the assets were transferred to it on April 1, 1992.

The authorities of the Foundation

The Auroville Foundation Act states that it has three authorities: (1) a nine-member Governing Board nominated by the Government of India (GB); (2) a five-member International Advisory Council nominated by the Government of India (IAC); and (3) the Residents' Assembly (RA), which is composed of all the adult inhabitants of Auroville whose names have been entered into the Register of Residents.

The Central Government also appoints a Secretary to the Foundation to "exercise such powers and perform such duties under the Chairman of the Governing Board as may be prescribed or as may be delegated to him by the Chairman." The Act further states that there will be a statutory body called the Working Committee which shall assist the Residents' Assembly or, as the case may be, the Governing Board, in discharging its duties under this Act.

The court cases

This ‘three authorities’ structure has functioned with a good level of harmonious collaboration for over 30 years. However, a major crisis erupted in 2021-22 when the new GB and its officers took decisions affecting the community, including setting up its own working groups, without consulting the RA. The GB and its Secretary took the position that, as the Act had vested the general superintendence, direction and management of the affairs of the Foundation in the Governing Board, which was authorised to exercise all the powers and discharge all the functions which may be exercised or discharged by the Foundation, there was no need to interact with the RA. The RA argued that this viewpoint was not in accordance with the Act. This has led to many court cases being filed by Aurovilians relating to either governance or environmental matters. Some criminal cases have also been filed by the Auroville Foundation office against some Aurovilians.

The National Green Tribunal verdict and appeal

The Auroville Universal Township Master Plan (Perspective 2025) is a perspective and directional document that was approved in 2001 by the Ministry of Human Resources Development (HRD) - now Ministry of Education (MoE) - and published by the Secretary of the Auroville Foundation in the Gazette of India in 2010. It came officially into force on the date of the publication. The Plan states that 5-year development plans and annual plans have to be made. However, these have never materialised.

A critical problem in the envisaged implementation of the Master Plan was that some of the roads and infrastructure were planned in areas where for decades extensive afforestation and greenwork had been done. For many years there was heated debate and disagreement within the community on whether to adjust the alignment of the roads to preserve the vegetation or not. With the appointment of a new Secretary and a new Governing Board, a major crisis erupted in December 2021 with the forceful execution of development works in some forested areas, in some cases with police and hired enforcers [see AVToday # 390, January 2022].

After the Foundation had felled many trees in the Bliss forest area and demolished structures in the Youth Centre to clear a path for the Crown Road, two residents filed a petition with the Southern Bench of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) in Chennai. The Tribunal issued an immediate Stay Order on the felling of trees, clearing land and all new development work, and gave its verdict in April 2022. The Bench directed the Auroville Foundation not to fell any more trees for the Crown Road until a Joint Committee, appointed by it, had inspected the area and made a report concerning whether, by reducing the width of the road at suitable places or through a slight realignment, the number of trees to be cut could be minimised in accordance with The Mother’s vision of creating a green cover. It also directed the Joint Committee to spell out the way in which the road would have to be constructed without affecting any water body / water flow. The Foundation, moreover, was directed to plant trees in the ratio of 1:10 for the number of trees to be cut, in order to protect the environment and to maintain the green cover in that area.

The NGT, considering it an exceptional circumstance, granted conditional permission to the Foundation to complete the Crown Road in the remaining stretches where there were no trees and to take action against unauthorised occupations, if any, in accordance with the law, even before obtaining environmental clearance for further activity. But it directed the Foundation to prepare a proper township plan, which would need to outline the locations where the roads would have to be laid, along with their width, and the nature of industries and other activities planned, and then apply for Environmental Clearance (EC).

The Secretary of the Auroville Foundation appealed the Tribunal’s verdict in the Supreme Court of India, in August 2022. In December 2023, the Supreme Court ordered an Interim Stay on the verdict. Since then, thousand of trees and undergrowth have been cut, including protected species, so as to clear the paths for the Outer Ring Road and the radial roads, even though their locations had not been defined in the Auroville Universal Township Master Plan (Perspective 2025). The final hearing in the Supreme Court is still to take place.

The Auroville Town Development Council (ATDC)

According to the Auroville Foundation Act, both the GB and the RA have a role in the preparation and formulation of the Master Plan. A Town Development Council (TDC) was constituted in 2011 for its implementation. The Aurovilian members in the TDC were selected by the Residents' Assembly and their nominations were confirmed by the Governing Board through an office order.

In 2021 the GB issued a Standing Order reconstituting the TDC, renaming it ATDC (the ‘A’ stands for Auroville) and appointing its members without any consultation with the RA. Two cases were filed in the Madras High Court on this matter. One judgment was in favour of the GB, when the Court sustained the Standing Order on the condition that the Auroville Foundation would issue a corrigendum as to under which provision of the Act the Order had been passed. Another was in favour of the RA. Both cases were then appealed at the Division Bench of the Madras High Court.

On March 15, 2024, the division bench of the Madras High Court struck down as ultra vires and illegal the Standing Order of the GB. The bench judged that the Auroville Foundation Act entrusts the functions of formulating the Master Plan to the RA and the final preparation and approval thereof to the GB. It also found that the Act does not authorise the GB to constitute committees that have no GB member as committee member. The bench found that the Standing Order enabling the GB or the Secretary to appoint ATDC members, without the nomination / selection emanating from the RA, does not align with the scheme of the Act, nor with the scheme laid out in the Auroville Master Plan. For the same reason, the court also judged the constitution of the ATDC Advisory Group by the GB as ultra vires of the Act. The bench stated that with the Standing Order, the GB had arrogated the entire powers of the RA to itself and had virtually nullified its existence and role vis-à-vis the Master Plan. The bench, while setting aside the Standing Order, stated that it will be open for the GB to frame fresh regulations in tune with the provision of the Act and the observations made in the order of the bench. The Auroville Foundation has appealed the judgement in the Supreme Court of India which, on April 29th, stayed the judgement of the High Court. The case is pending.

The functioning of the Residents’ Assembly and its Working Committee

The GB’s forceful actions to implement the controversial Crown Road development were followed by an attempt to progressively takeover the functions of the RA. The Working Committee members at that time were divided on how to respond to the new situation. For this reason, the RA called for a confidence vote on the group and each single member in April and May 2022. Three members were approved to be able to continue by over 90% of the almost 900 participants and four members were dismissed by over 90% of the participants.

The Office of the Secretary, however, tried to prevent the vote by issuing a letter stating that all decision-making processes must stop, alleging that the Register of Residents had not been updated since 2005 (which was factually incorrect). The Office of the Secretary and the GB then decided not to recognise the confirmed Working Committee members and the new ones selected by the RA, and chose instead to refer to the members that were dismissed plus three other members that were co-opted by them without any approval by the RA. These actions led to two more court cases at the Madras High Court.

The police complaint

Moreover, a police complaint alleging criminal activities was made by the Office of the Secretary against the three RA-confirmed Working Committee members and three other Aurovilians, and a First Information Report (FIR) was signed by the Deputy Secretary of the Auroville Foundation. The Aurovilians mentioned in the FIR then obtained anticipatory bail to prevent arrest. The criminal case against them is still pending at the District Court in Tindivanam.

Can the Secretary halt the proceedings of the RA?

The first court case initiated at the Madras High Court sought the recognition of the Working Committee selected through the approved RA processes. In August 2022, a judgement was issued quashing the order of the Office of the Secretary preventing the vote and recognizing that all the three authorities of the Auroville Foundation should work in mutuality [see AVToday # 398 of September 2022]. The judgment was immediately appealed by the Secretary of the Auroville Foundation and an interim stay on this judgement was ordered by a division bench of the Madras High Court that same month.

Since then, the matter has gone through a number of hearings. In September 2023, the Chief Justice of the Madras High Court issued a modification of the interim order affirming that the RA is a statutory body and therefore cannot be interfered with by any external officer, authority or other entity.

The appeal by the Secretary of the Auroville Foundation has now been listed along with residual ATDC matters on June 10th, after the High Court summer break.

Which is the rightful Working Committee?

The second case initiated at the Madras High Court, a quo warranto [‘what is your authority’] case has been filed by the Working Committee selected by the RA. This writ requests the court to order the group of residents recognised by the Secretary and the Governing Board as the 'Working Committee' to prove that they are legitimate and enjoy the confidence of the RA. On March 28th, the judge ordered the RA WCom to submit the list of members in the RA and the list of pending litigations involving Auroville, and ordered the members of the GB-recognised Working Committee and the Secretary to submit the original register of members in the Residents’ Assembly and the official copy of the Participation Working Group document. Both parties were also instructed to file “a joint sequence of dates sans narration to set out the trajectory of events germane to the present matter.” This case is pending.

Admission and Termination of Persons in the Register of Residents Regulations

In December 2023, the Secretary published in the Gazette of India new “Admission and Termination of Persons in the Register of Residents Regulations”. It was made without consultation with the Residents’ Assembly. These Regulations hand power to the Secretary and the GB to determine who lives in Auroville. Immediately after the publication of these new Regulations, the Auroville Foundation Office locked the office of the Auroville Entry Board without any prior notification.

In response, the RA-WCom initiated an Emergency Residents' Assembly decision making process, asserting that the new Regulations are an overreach by the GB and usurp the powers given to the RA as per the Auroville Foundation Act, and that the RA asserts its right to carry out its functions as detailed in the Act. The resolution was overwhelmingly accepted. In addition, the RA-WCom and an individual Auroville resident petitioned the Madras High Court to stay the new Regulations and declare them ultra vires of the Auroville Foundation Act.

On January 23rd, 2024, the Madras High Court ordered an interim stay of the new Regulations. The judges stated that prima facie, the impugned regulations erode the powers of the Residents’ Assembly and ordered that, “Until further orders, the admission or termination of the persons in the Register of Residents of the Auroville Foundation shall not be finalized or a person shall be admitted or terminated from the register resorting to the impugned regulations.”

Auroville Foundation (Framework for Selection of Working Committee) Regulations, 2024.

On January 12th, 2024, the Secretary published the “Auroville Foundation (Framework for Selection of Working Committee) Regulations 2024” in part III of the Gazette of India. These Regulations too were made without consulting the Residents’ Assembly.

These Regulations deal with the way the Working Committee of the Residents’ Assembly is to be selected, giving prominent powers to the Governing Board. As these Regulations also appear to be in contravention of the Auroville Foundation Act, the RA-WCom petitioned the Madras High Court to stay them and declare them ultra vires of the Auroville Foundation Act, 1988.

On January 23rd, 2024, the Madras High Court, dealing with these Regulations, together with the new Entry and Exit Regulations, ordered an interim stay, stating that, here too, prima facie the impugned regulations erode the powers of the RA. It passed orders that “Until further orders, functioning of the Working Committee under Section 20 of the Act [the RA-WCom, eds.] shall not be interfered with by the Committee constituted under the impugned Regulations [this would be the new GB-WCom, eds.] and the Working Committee shall be one as constituted under Section 20(3) of the Act.” [The RA-WCom]

The cases challenging the Admission and Termination of Residents in the Register of Residents Regulations 2023 and the Selection of the Working Committee Regulations 2024 are pending.

Petitions in High Court on land exchanges

The Madras High Court on 28th March ordered issue of notice to the Auroville Foundation on Writ Petitions and Writ Miscellaneous Petitions filed by an Auroville Resident on 26th March and registered by the Court the same day.

The Writ Petitions pray for court orders to the Auroville Foundation to refrain from “proceeding with any transaction of land transfer, including land exchanges without following the procedures laid down in the Auroville Foundation Rules 1997 and General Financial Rules 2017”, and direct the District Registrar to “cancel the relevant entry of registrations to all land exchanges entered into” by the Auroville Foundation from 2021 till date which have been undertaken without following the said procedures.

The Writ Miscellaneous Petitions pray for the court's Interim Stay Order to the Auroville Foundation from proceeding with any transaction of land transfer without following the above mentioned Foundation and Financial Rules, and direct the Auroville Foundation to produce before the Court all sale deeds, land deeds and other such instruments of transfer related to the above till the Writ Petition is disposed by the Court.

Other pending cases

There are a number of other cases pending in court between the Auroville Foundation and individuals, mainly regarding land ownership and the veracity of land title deeds. These cases do not involve Auroville working groups or the RA.

More court cases?

In today’s highly polarised atmosphere, it can be expected that the Madras High Court and the Supreme Court of India will be petitioned to issue judgements in other issues as well. As the RA-WCom wrote in the concluding remarks part of its Observations on the minutes of the Governing Board’s 66th meeting: “We repeat the concluding remark made in our observations on the minutes of the 63rd, 64th and 65th meetings of the Governing Board: In order to achieve the ‘harmonious collaboration’ mentioned by Shri Soli Sorabjee [a former Solicitor General of India who had given a legal opinion on the relationship between the GB, RA and IAC, eds.], we believe that an open interaction between the Board, the International Advisory Council and the Residents’ Assembly will be required. The Board’s authoritarian decisions and the Secretary’s secretive actions do not contribute to Auroville’s well-being and to the realization of the aims for which the Auroville Foundation Act was promulgated, and will only lead to more resentment and to more court cases.”