Is the Sri Aurobindo Ashram
Trust in Pondicherry bent upon destroying the spiritual legacy of Sri Aurobindo
and the Mother? If not, how do you explain the sudden reinstatement of Peter Heehs
as the head of its Archives & Research Department on the 29th of June?
Showing posts with label Court Cases. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Court Cases. Show all posts
30 Jun 2019
28 Jan 2016
Response to FIRSTPOST on the Scheme Suit issue – by Bireshwar Choudhury
On 14 January 2016,
the Editor of the FIRSTPOST has referred in passing to the petitioners of the
Scheme Suit in a most disparaging manner in an article titled “SC has shown great foresight in striking against proxy PILs as instruments of intimidation”. As
an admirer of this website, which has dared to take on the likes of Wendy Doniger, it is strange that it has now decided to support one of “Wendy’s
children” – Peter Heehs (read this post). But I hope I can attribute this error
to factual ignorance and unfamiliarity with the recent problems in Sri
Aurobindo Ashram. If that be the case, I would like to point out a few outright
errors in the write-up for the clarification of the larger readership connected
with the FIRSTPOST, which hopefully would set the record right or at
least give us a chance to give our version of events on its website. I quote
from the article:
8 Jan 2016
Dismissal of the Scheme Suit in the Supreme Court – by Bireshwar Choudury
The Scheme Suit
filed against the Sri Aurobindo Ashram Trust has been dismissed on technical
grounds by the Supreme Court of India on 6 January, 2016. Unlike what
the supporters of Peter Heehs and the cronies of the Ashram Trust are
projecting on the Net, the Supreme Court has not exonerated the author of the Lives of Sri Aurobindo. The Scheme Suit has
been dismissed because the case against the Lives
of Sri Aurobindo by Peter Heehs is still pending in the High Court of
Orissa.
15 Dec 2015
The Necessity of Proper Procedures in Sri Aurobindo Ashram – by Baikunth
It
is therefore high time that some proper procedures are introduced in the
current administrative setup of the Ashram without, at the same time,
paralysing it with procedures as we see in various Government institutions. It
is true we have made a parody of democracy in our country, but that cannot be a
justification for not introducing basic democratic structures in the Ashram. It
is also true that spirituality and democracy may be incompatible, but in the
present predicament of the Ashram when the Integral Yoga has become an excuse
to enjoy the ordinary life at other people’s expense, it is time to put in
place a few checks and balances on the unlimited powers of the Trustees to
prevent the most arrogant human errors in the name of divine justice. [read full article below]
14 Aug 2015
Supreme Court considers probe into Aurobindo ashram harassment allegations
Daily Mail Online India
By
Harish V. Nair
Published:
22:39 GMT, 13 August 2015 | Updated: 00:14 GMT, 14 August 2015
At a time when
several self-proclaimed godmen, godwomen and ashrams are making news for wrong
reasons, the Supreme Court has hinted that it might set up a commission headed
by a retired high court judge to probe complaints of sexual harassment filed by
women and child inmates of the famous Aurobindo Ashram in Puducherry against
its members.
The panel may also
probe several other irregularities, including misappropriation of funds.
A bench headed by
Chief Justice of India H.L. Dattu said this on Thursday after hearing
suggestions made by Gopal Subramaniam, counsel for the ashram.
22 Feb 2015
Evicted sisters observe token fast
The Hindu
Sunday, February 22, 2015
PUDUCHERRY: The sisters, who have been evicted
from Sri Aurobindo Ashram-run premises, along with members of civil society
organisations on Saturday observed a token fast in front of the BSNL office
here demanding the Centre to direct the Puducherry government to take over the
administration of the Ashram.
29 Jan 2015
Comment on "Who Represents the Ashram?" – by a Devotee and Disciple
If anyone has to be blamed for the
possibility of a government intervention, it is the Trustees themselves. First,
they behave with an absolute authority wherein no one has any right to question
their decisions. Then they go about systematically diluting the work of Sri
Aurobindo and the Mother by turning the Ashram into a free-for-all place where
anybody who can please them can take all the benefits. By doing this and by
constantly finding legal and police solutions, they have acted worse than
government officials and attracted such forces into the temple of the Lord.
18 Jan 2015
Centre for probe in Ashram case
Deccan
Chronicle / Chennai, Saturday, 17 January 2015
SC
urged to appoint retd judge for investigation
J. Venkatesan / DC
New Delhi, Jan. 16
The Centre on
Friday urged the Supreme Court to order a fair probe by a retired high court
judge into the allegations of sexual harassment of women and children in
Aurobindo Ashram in Puducherry.
The allegations,
through a number of complaints by the inmates of the ashram and local MLA,
include misappropriation of ashram funds, illegal sale and lease of ashram
properties for personal gain by the managing trustees of Aurobindo Ashram
Trust.
Attorney General
Rohatgi, appearing for the Centre, told a bench of the Chief Justice H.L. Dattu
and Justice A.K. Sikrit that the centre had filed its reply to the notice on a
writ petition filed by Dr. Gayatri Satapathy and others seeking a probe into
various allegations.
The petitioners
alleged that the acts of omissions and commissions of the trustees of the
ashram had resulted in sexual harassment of women who were associated with the
trust either as inmates or otherwise; against minor inmates; medical negligence
in providing hospital facilities; and denial of food, shelter, medical support
and other basic facilities to the inmates.
They alleged that
the Union of India and the Puducherry government, though had an obligation, had
failed to intervene in the abysmal state of affairs in the ashram and the
serious plight of the inmates. They wanted the Centre to frame an appropriate
law to impart transparency and accountability into the administration of the
ashram and till such time the law was enacted, to administer the affairs of the
ashram.
They also sought a
proper enquiry into the various allegations against the trustees.
The bench took on
record the Centre’s reply and posted the matter for further hearing on January
27.
19 Dec 2014
Bandh tomorrow for govt. takeover of ashram
The
Hindu
December 19, 2014
Puducherry sisters’
death
A host of outfits and
civil society organisations have called for a dawn-to-dusk bandh on December 20
demanding that the Union and Puducherry governments should intervene and take
over Sri Aurobindo Ashram. A decision to this effect was taken at a joint
meeting here on Thursday.
G. Sugumaran,
secretary, Federation for Peoples Rights (FPR), said the Central government
should intervene and appoint a senior IAS official to look after the
administration of the Ashram.
Aurobindo Ashram Turns Inhuman, Evicts Family from Earth
MF Monitor
December
18, 2014
Established in
Pondicherry by Sri Aurobindo on 24 November 1926, the Aurobindo Ashram turned
into a villain to a family of seven in less than a century.
A 2002 case involving
the Ashram and the five sisters in a long-drawn legal battle ended on Dec. 9
with a Supreme Court direction to get the sisters thrown out within 7 days from
the Ambabhikshu House.
The five hapless
sisters had submitted a joint letter to the Trustees of Sri Aurobindo Ashram on
December 15 that they would end their lives if forced to leave.
18 Dec 2014
Sisters evicted from Aurobindo Ashram: Three including mother commit suicide
ABP Live
PTI
Thursday, 18 December
2014 02:47 PM
Puducherry:
An entire family - five sisters and their parents - jumped into the sea here
this morning, a day after they were evicted from the famous Aurobindo Ashram.
Two of the young
women and their mother have died, the police said, while the father and three
other daughters were rescued by fishermen and have been hospitalized.
The family is from
Bihar. The five sisters had been staying in the residential part of the
Aurobindo Ashram for several years; their parents lived near-by.
The trust that
runs the ashram had 10 years ago accused one of the sisters of
misconduct. Earlier this month, the Supreme Court ruled in favour of the
trust and said the sisters should vacate their rooms within a week; if they
refused, the court said, the police should evict them.
Yesterday, they
warned to kill themselves if they were moved out, but later were escorted out
by the police after extensive talks.
29 Aug 2014
Response to Govardhan Dave – by Sridharan
Govardhan Dave is perhaps at his illogical best in the recent posting of
19 August 2014 on the Well-Wishers’ forum. Logical analysis was never his
strong point, but what concerns me is that he is also an ignoramus on life in
Sri Aurobindo Ashram and on the stormy events that have recently occurred there.
What is more disconcerting is that he proceeds to write a factual analysis of
the controversy with this half-knowledge and with his half-baked mind. This
double deficiency makes him indeed a dangerous disseminator of wrong
information which gullible strangers might readily believe. Hence I will take
the trouble to rebut him instead of dismissing him as a harmless nincompoop who
is being used by the Well-Wishers’ forum to shoot over his shoulders. I quote
below his so-called analysis with my comments below.
28 Jul 2014
Connecting the Dots between the pro-Ashram Trust Nexus – Sridharan
The Well-wishers
of Sri Aurobindo Ashram website which follows closely our site has recently
done some “remarkable investigation” and announced how it has “connected the
dots” between the so-called anti-Ashram nexus. Let me first remind these “highly
intelligent sleuths” that Sri Aurobindo Ashram (Pondicherry) is different from
the Sri Aurobindo Ashram Trust (Pondicherry). The Ashram Trust was created by
the Mother in 1955 for protecting the assets and properties of the Ashram,
whereas Sri Aurobindo Ashram spontaneously began in 1926 when Sri Aurobindo
gave “the spiritual and material charge” of his disciples to the Mother after
the Siddhi Day. The Ashram is the spiritual institution and the Ashram Trust is
only a legal body, whose administration has at first gradually and then rapidly
deteriorated in recent times after the passing away of its Gurus. A section of
the Ashramites are extremely unhappy with the corrupt and dictatorial
functioning of the Ashram Trust and have therefore gone against it in various
legitimate ways. They have not gone against the Ashram itself nor do they want
to destroy the Ashram from the face of this earth, as the supporters of the
Ashram Trust would like the ignorant public to believe. The solution to this
rudderless present situation of the Ashram without any spiritual heads, or
rather with the present Trustees who always get into loggerheads with anybody
who differs from them, is an alternate system of fair and democratic
governance. If this is difficult to understand and highly objectionable, then I
think we have to set the clock back and go back to pre Magna Carta days.
23 May 2014
The Supreme Court Verdict on the Five Sisters – Bireshwar Choudhury
Three newspapers (Times of India, New Indian
Express & Deccan Chronicle) have recently reported the adverse judgement delivered on the Five Prasad Sisters by
the Supreme Court of India on the 29th
of April 2014. The sisters have been ordered to vacate their present quarters
in Sri Aurobindo Ashram, Pondicherry, by July 31st. What is however strange is that none of the newspaper
reports mention that the Ashram Trust will have to bear the expenditure of the
Five Sisters staying outside the Ashram premises! The Ashram Trust will have to
pay them a minimum of Rs 29000/ every month (subject to fair review and appeal on account
of inflation and other factors as this amount was fixed by the High Court a
long while ago) for accommodation, food and other basic necessities
of life until the original suit pending in the Pondicherry Court since 2005 has
been disposed of.
13 Mar 2014
Peter Heehs’s Attempt to Withdraw the Ban on his Scurrilous Biography of Sri Aurobindo ― by Sricharan Singh
The Trustees of Sri Aurobindo Ashram
are once again trying to reactivate the effort to denigrate Sri Aurobindo in
the eyes of the public. The effort had been quelled earlier, but this time they
have taken the help of Manoj Das, the well-known Odiya writer and inmate of Sri
Aurobindo Ashram.
An American inmate of Sri Aurobindo
Ashram by the name of Peter Heehs had written a biography called The Lives of Sri Aurobindo in May 2008,
which was published by Columbia University Press. The book portrays Sri
Aurobindo and the Mother as very ordinary human beings who lived very ordinary
lives. The Government of Odisha in its wisdom had banned the book in India
through a Gazette Notification on the 9th of April 2009 before the
Indian edition could be published. Therefore Indian readers were fortunately
saved from this distorting book, which is a deliberate and malicious attempt by
a foreigner to denigrate our deeply adored national and spiritual leader.
Recently Peter Heehs has filed a
complaint in the Odisha High Court challenging the Gazette Notification of the
Odisha Government.
27 Jan 2014
Peter Heehs Challenges the Book Ban in the High Court of Orissa ― by Bireshwar Choudhury
The
Trustees of Sri Aurobindo Ashram are again busy at their job of helping Peter
Heehs malign Sri Aurobindo in the public domain. A week back Peter Heehs
challenged the gazette notification passed by the Orissa Govt on 9 April, 2009
proscribing the Lives of Sri Aurobindo and
thankfully sparing the Indian readers from its derogatory content on Sri
Aurobindo and the Mother. The move to lift the ban on his book has obviously
the backing, the full support and blessings of the Ashram Trustees, for
otherwise how could you expect Peter Heehs (who is an impudent dud in legal
matters) to move the High Court of Orissa by himself? The Trustees will surely
deny their connection with it, as they have always denied in every embarrassing
issue related to their ham handed administration. But how long can they pretend
not to back Peter Heehs while doing everything on heaven and earth to keep him
happy? How long will they publicly pretend to be neutral and circumspect while
risking the displeasure of the entire Sri Aurobindonian community by their actions that betray their real intentions?
21 Jan 2014
BAIL ORDER OF MANOJ DAS GUPTA
IN THE COURT OF THE PRINCIPAL
SESSIONS JUDGE AT POND1CHERRY
PRESENT
THIRU M. CHINNAPANDl, B.A.. B.L.,
PRINCIPAL SESSIONS JUDGE
MONDAY, THE
11th DAY OF OCTOBER, 2004
Cr. M.P. No.
1301 / 04 in Cr. No. 2/2003
MANOJ DAS GUPTA (A- 4)
S/o Narendranath Das Gupta Petitioner/Accused - 4
Vs.
State rep. by
S.H.O. CID P.S.
Pondicherry thro' PP Respondent/Complainant
This petition coming on this day for hearing before
me in the presence of Mr A. Bakthavachalam, Advocate for the petitioner. Thiru K. Shanmugam Public Prosecutor for
the State, upon hearing both sides and after perusing the case records, this
court passed the following:
23 Jun 2013
Scheme Suit Update ― Sridharan
There has been a demand from our
readers for an update on the Scheme Suit filed against the Trustees of Sri
Aurobindo Ashram in August 2010 by five disciples of Sri Aurobindo and the
Mother. A Scheme Suit is filed against a public charitable Trust (in this case
Sri Aurobindo Ashram Trust) when there is a sufficient public cause and
grievance, so the plaintiffs have to first ask “leave to sue” from the Court
and show prima facie evidence of the
grievance. This should not be confused with the admission of cases in general
where only individual interests are affected. Admission of cases is usually
decided by the judge on the basis of prima
facie evidence provided by the plaintiffs, but in a scheme suit, this
initial exercise is rendered more difficult by the law giving the public Trust (against
whom the scheme suit is filed) a chance to defend itself and disprove the
plaintiff’s case at the very outset. The reason for this extra procedure for
admission is to discourage the filing of frivolous cases filed against a public
institution. The plaintiff has to therefore prove, even before the case is
admitted, that his cause of action is sufficiently public in nature, and that
not only he but a number of individuals have been affected for which the Trustees
are liable for prosecution. That is why a scheme suit is difficult to admit and
the very admission of the case can be a protracted process. In the history of Puducherry,
the present scheme suit is said to be the first one to get admitted and
numbered. One more scheme suit, also filed against the Sri Aurobindo Ashram
Trust, is pending for admission right now in the Puducherry Court.
27 Apr 2013
Fall From Grace? ― Outlook, issue of March 12, 1997
Once
known for its spiritual atmosphere, the Aurobindo Ashram today faces internal
dissent and charges of sexual excesses
By A.S.
PANNEERSELVAN in Pondicherry
The spiritual curtain has lifted on the Sri Aurobindo Ashram in Pondicherry. With its net assets over Rs 500 crore, a flourishing business in leather goods, computers and hand-made paper, and a premium on its brand equity, the ashram's spiritual concerns seem to have been abandoned in favour of more materialist pursuits. And now the internal discontent is threatening to spill over outside as a section of its inmates have decided to settle matters in court.
The legal battle has been joined by
political parties and human rights organisations who are demanding a
full-fledged probe into the activities of the ashram. The PMK, the Samata
Party, the Samajwadi Party, both factions of the DK, the BSP, the Dravida
Peravai, the CPI(ML) and the People's Union of Civil Liberties have called for
accountability and democratisation of the insular institution. While the
political parties are interested in the ashram because of its growing economic
clout (it employs about 3,000 people in its various divisions) and its huge
real estate holdings (more than 70 per cent of the old French buildings near
the beach), the discontent within has emerged over the spiritual deviation
that has taken place in the ashram over the last two decades. Labour exploitation,
tax evasion, sexual excesses, sexual violence, paedophilia and laundering of
public funds are some of the crimes the ashram has been accused of
perpetrating.
22 Apr 2013
The Sri Aurobindo Ashram Inmates’ Association – by Bireshwhar Choudhury
It all started in November 1996 when
Bailochan Parida and Narayan Swain formed the Sri Aurobindo Ashram Inmates’
Association in order to protect the interest of the inmates of the Ashram. Things
had sufficiently gone wrong by then to warrant the formation of an association
within a spiritual community. Harikant Patel was the Managing Trustee, Manoj
Das Gupta was next in command though he was the driving force from behind even
then. Parou Patil had died in 1996 making way for Dr Dilip Datta to become a
Trustee and make a mess of the future administration of the Ashram – the legal
harassment of the inmates of the Ashram began with Dr. Dilip Datta.
When the Inmates Association wanted to
register their association, the Puducherry Registrar told them to get a No
Objection certificate from the Ashram Trust. Meanwhile, the Ashram Trust acted
with extreme high-handedness. Four members of the Association, Bailochan Parida,
Srikant Jivarajini, Dilip Agarwal and Kamal Dora, were expelled from the Ashram
in January 1997 because they had dared to form an association. They were immediately
debarred from taking food in the Ashram Dining Room. The henchmen of the Trust then
swung into punitive action. Dilip Agarwal’s room in the Laundry was locked from
outside while he was sleeping inside – he had to escape through the window. Kamal
Dora’s room at the Lake Estate was literally ransacked and his personal belongings
thrown out – a criminal case was filed against those who had raided his room. Srikant
Jivarajani was threatened at his residence and told to vacate the house. Only Bailochan
was spared because he stayed in his own house.
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