Supreme Court of India

A year ago, architect David Nightingale talked about how Spiral Dynamics could provide one way of understanding the present situation in Auroville.

On 17 March 2025, the Supreme Court of India delivered two judgements. One was on the appeal of the Auroville Foundation against the verdict of the National Green Tribunal passed in April 2022; the other on the appeal of the Auroville Foundation against the judgement of the Madras High Court of March 2024 regarding the Auroville Town Development Council.

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.

The RA-WCom has shared with the community an update about recent activities and hearings in the Supreme Court in New Delhi and in the Madras High Court.

On March 15, a bench of the Madras High Court consisting of its Hon’ble Chief Justice Mr. Sanjay V. Gangapurwala and the Hon'ble Mr. Justice D.

The Residents of Auroville express their profound grief at the passing of eminent jurist Fali Nariman on 21st February 2024 who, on more than one occasion, helped the development of Auroville by acting in court or by giving valuable legal opinions.

On November 21st, India’s Supreme Court heard an appeal filed by the Auroville Foundation office against the ruling of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) of April 2022. which emphasized the need for comprehensive town plans and environmental clearance before embarking on any development, while giving conditional clearance for creating the Crown Road.

Sriram Panchu is a senior advocate at the High Court, Madras, and an internationally recognised mediator. Over the past 20 years, he has been instrumental in bringing mediation into India’s dispute resolution system.

Congratulations flowed in when Chennai-based senior advocate and mediator Sriram Panchu learned that he had been appointed as one of the three mediators in the Ayodhya-Babri Masjid controversy which has been plaguing the nation for decades.

On 23rd January, 2010, for the French Pavilion, Alain Bernard gave a talk on the background and passing of the Auroville Foundation Act. Here is an edited version of the translation of that talk.