A bit of history

The Mother, initially, showed little interest in the Auroville project, but this changed in 1965. In September that year, the Mother gave her first public message on Auroville. In November 1966, the Government of India endorsed the project and moved a resolution to support of Auroville at the UNESCO General Conference in Paris, which was unanimously accepted. Auroville was inaugurated on 28th February, 1968. More resolutions of support were passed later, in 1968, 1970 and 1983 and once again in 2017.

In 1966, in a conversation with Satprem recorded in Mother’s Agenda, The Mother spoke about why she created Auroville: “This birth of Auroville wasn’t preceded by any thought; as always, it was simply a Force acting, like a sort of absolute manifesting, and it was so strong that I could have told people, ‘Even if you don’t believe in it, even if all circumstances appear to be quite unfavorable, I KNOW THAT AUROVILLE WILL BE. It may be in a hundred years, it may be in a thousand years, I don’t know, but Auroville will be because it has been decreed.’ So it was decreed – and done quite simply, like that, in obedience to a Command, without any thought.”_ (21 September 1966)_.

Mother gave the SAS the administrative charge of the project. The SAS did fundraising and purchased lands, many of which were subsequently developed by members of the SAS.

After The Mother’s passing in November 1973, a crisis occurred between residents of Auroville and the management of the SAS, which attempted to control Auroville. In 1976, the Government of India appointed a commission headed by the then Lt. Governor of Pondicherry, Shri B.T. Kulkarni, to investigate the dealings of the Sri Aurobindo Society. The commission reported that there were irregularities after which, in 1980, the Indian Government headed by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi promulgated the Auroville Emergency Provisions Ordinance, which was shortly afterwards followed by Auroville Emergency Provisions Act 1980.

Auroville Emergency Provisions Act 1980

The Act mentions in its preamble that “The ideals of the project formed India’s highest aspirations, which could not be allowed to be defeated or frustrated. The Sri Aurobindo Society had lost complete control over the situation and the members of Auroville approached the Government of India to give protection against oppression and victimisation at the hands of the said Society. … There have been instances of law and order situation… serious irregularities in the management of the said Society, misutilisation of its funds and their diversion to other purposes was found. The Government in the circumstances could not be a silent spectator to the mismanagement of the project which if not checked could lead to the destruction of the project so nobly conceived.”

The main provisions of the Auroville Emergency Provisions Act were that it vested the management of all undertakings relatable to Auroville in the Government of India for a two-year period (which was later extended by another five years); that it constituted an International Advisory Council to advise the Government, and appointed as its members Mr. M’Bow, the Sec. General of UNESCO; Mrs. Lyudmila Zhivkova, the Minister of Culture, Bulgaria; Shri Narasimha Rao, the Minister of Human Resource Development, Government of India; and Shri J.R.D. Tata, a well-known Indian industrialist. The Act also provided for the appointment of an administrator. A retired judge, Shri L.P. Nigam, was so appointed.

The Supreme Court case

The SAS went to court against the Act, stating that Auroville was a religious institution and that, as per the Articles 25 and 26 of the Constitution of India, mentioning the rights to freedom of religion and to manage religious affairs, the Government cannot interfere in religious institutions. The SAS argued that the Auroville Emergency Provisions Act went against the constitution of India and was therefore invalid.

The Supreme Court of India disagreed. In its ruling of November 8th, 1982, it judged that “Shri Aurobindo's teachings cannot be said to be of a religious nature. Numerous utterings by Sri Aurobindo and The Mother unmistakably show that the Ashram or Society or Auroville is not a religious institution. Aurobindo Society and the Auroville township do not fall within the meaning of religious denomination so as to be violative of Articles 25 and 26 of the Constitution.”