Full Judgment Text
2025 INSC 348
REPORTABLE
IN THE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA
CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION
CIVIL APPEAL NO. 13651 OF 2024
THE AUROVILLE FOUNDATION .... APPELLANT
VERSUS
NATASHA STOREY .... RESPONDENT
J U D G M E N T
BELA M. TRIVEDI, J.
1. The legality and validity of the Judgment and Order
dated 15.03.2024 passed by the High Court of
Judicature at Madras in Writ Petition No. 25882 of
2022, allowing the said Writ Petition filed by the
Respondent- Natasha Storey and setting aside the
impugned Notification dated 01.06.2022 containing
the Standing Order No. 01/2022 issued by the
Appellant – Foundation, is under challenge before this
Court by way of instant appeal.
Signature Not Verified
Digitally signed by
RAVI ARORA
Date: 2025.03.17
17:16:26 IST
Reason:
C.A. No.13651 of 2024 Page 1 of 30
2. Before adverting to issues involved in the Appeal, it
would be apposite to peep into the history of Auroville,
and the objects and reasons of enacting the Auroville
Foundation Act (hereinafter referred to as the “A.F.
Act”).
3. Prelude on the History of Auroville: -
(I) In 1965, the “Mother” (Mirra Alfassa, a French
Lady), a spiritual collaborator of Sri Aurobindo
(a Spiritual reformer, Philosopher and
Educationist), envisioned to launch the project
of Auroville, with an aim to establish an
international universal township, where men
and women of all countries are able to live in
peace and harmony, above all creeds, all
politics and all nationalities and to realise
human unity. The project of Auroville was
formerly inaugurated by the “Mother” in
28.02.1968. The Charter of Auroville given by
the “Mother” was the following:
“1. Auroville belongs to nobody in
particular. Auroville belongs to humanity
as a whole. But to live in Auroville one
must be a willing servitor of the Divine
Consciousness.
C.A. No.13651 of 2024 Page 2 of 30
2. Auroville will be the place of an
unending education, of constant
progress and a youth that never ages.
3. Auroville wants to be the bridge
between the past and the future. Taking
advantage of all discoveries from without
and from within, Auroville will boldly
spring towards future realisations.
4. Auroville will be a site of material and
spiritual researches for a living
embodiment of an actual Human Unity.”
(II) The original Master Plan of the Auroville was
conceptualized in Galaxy shape, and was
planned to eventually accommodate 50,000
residents, a number which the “Mother”
considered sufficient to allow the experiment in
human unity to take on a meaningful and
significant dimension. Picture of Galaxy Model
Plan conceptualized in 1968 is shown below:
C.A. No.13651 of 2024 Page 3 of 30
(III) The project Auroville was legally started as the
project of a charitable organization, “The Sri
Aurobindo Society” in Pondicherry, which was
created to diffuse Sri Aurobindo’s thoughts. The
development of Auroville in the initial few years
showed good progress and it further developed
at a rapid pace. Number of Indians and
foreigners settled down in Auroville and devoted
themselves to various activities showing a
remarkable harmony amongst the members of
Auroville, which gave a promise to the
Government of India of an early fulfilment of the
ideals for which Auroville was established. It was
also encouraged by UNESCO and other
International Organizations of the world.
However, after the “Mother” passed away in
1973, the situation changed, and number of
complaints came to be received by the
Government of India with regard to the
mismanagement in the working of the Sri
Aurobindo Society. Following the requests by
majority of Auroville residents, the Government
of India issued a Presidential Ordinance called
the Auroville (Emergency Provisions)
C.A. No.13651 of 2024 Page 4 of 30
Ordinance, 1980, later replaced by the Auroville
(Emergency Provisions) Act, 1980. Finally, the
Government of India created a unique status for
Auroville by passing the A.F. Act.
4. The Provisions of A.F. Act: -
(I) The long title of the said A.F. Act of 1988
enacted by the Parliament on 29.09.1988
reads as under:
“THE AUROVILLE FOUNDATION ACT,
1988
ACT NO. 54 OF 1988
[29th September, 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 the
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.
WHEREAS Auroville was founded by
the “Mother” on the 28th day of February,
1968 as an international cultural
township;
AND WHEREAS in view of the
serious difficulties which had arisen with
regard to the management of Auroville,
the management thereof had been
vested in the Central Government for a
limited period by the Auroville
(Emergency Provisions) Act, 1980 (59 of
1980);
AND WHEREAS under the
management of the Central Government
C.A. No.13651 of 2024 Page 5 of 30
and under the overall guidance of the
International Advisory Council set up
under the aforesaid Act, 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;
AND WHEREAS Auroville was
developed as a cultural township with the
aid of funds received from different
organisations in and outside India as also
from substantial grants received from the
Central and State Governments, and the
United Nations Educational Scientific
and Cultural Organisation also had, from
time to time, reflected in its resolutions
that the project on Auroville is
contributing to international
understanding and promotion of peace;
AND WHEREAS for the purpose of
encouraging, continuing and
consolidating the aforesaid activities of
Auroville, it is necessary in the public
interest to acquire the undertakings of
Auroville and to vest them in a body
corporate established for the purpose;
BE it enacted by Parliament in the
Thirty-ninth Year of the Republic of India
as follows: —"
(II) The relevant provisions contained in Chapter-
III, germane for the purpose of deciding the
present Appeal are reproduced for ready
reference:
“10. Establishment and incorporation
of the Foundation . —
(1) With effect from such date as the
Central Government may, by notification,
appoint in this behalf, there shall be
established for the purpose of this Act, a
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Foundation, to be called the Auroville
Foundation.
(2) The Foundation shall be a body
corporate by the name aforesaid, having
perpetual succession and a common
seal with power to acquire, hold and
dispose of property, both movable and
immovable, and to contract and shall by
the said name sue and be sued.
(3) The Foundation shall consist of the
following authorities, namely: —
(a) the Governing Board;
(b) the Residents’ Assembly;
(c) the Auroville International Advisory
Council
11. Governing Board. —
(1) The Governing Board shall consist of
the following members, namely: —
(i) not more than seven members to be
nominated by the Central Government
from amongst persons, who have—
(a) rendered valuable service to
Auroville;
(b) dedicated themselves to the ideals of
life-long education, synthesis of material
and spiritual researches or human unity;
(c) contributed significantly in activities
that are being persued or are envisaged
to be promoted in Auroville, including
activities relating to environment,
afforestation, arts and crafts, industry,
agriculture, humanities, sciences and
integral yoga;
(ii) two representatives of the Central
Government to be nominated by it.
(2) The Central Government shall
nominate a Chairman of the Governing
Board from amongst the members
nominated by it under clause (i) of sub-
section (1).
(3) The general superintendence,
direction and management of the affairs
of the Foundation shall vest in the
Governing Board which may exercise all
C.A. No.13651 of 2024 Page 7 of 30
the powers and discharge all the
functions which may be exercised or
discharged by the Foundation.
(4) The Governing Board may associate
with itself in such manner and for such
purposes as may be prescribed, any
persons whose assistance or advice it
may desire in complying with any of the
provisions of this Act and a person so
associated shall have the right to take
part in the discussions of the Governing
Board relevant to the purposes for which
he has been associated, but shall not
have the right to vote.
(5) No act or proceeding of the Governing
Board or any committee appointed by it
under section 16 shall be invalidated
merely by reason of, —
(a) any vacancy in, or any defect in the
constitution of, the Governing Board or
such committee; or
(b) any defect in the nomination of a
person acting as a member of the
Governing Board or such committee; or
(c) any irregularity in the procedure of the
Governing Board or such committee not
affecting the merits of the case.
12 to 15…………..
16. Committees of the Governing
Board . —
(1) The Governing Board may appoint
such committees as may be necessary
for the efficient discharge of its duties and
performance of its functions under this
Act.
(2) The Governing Board shall have the
power to co-opt as members of any
committee appointed under sub-section
(1), such number of persons who are not
members of the Governing Board as it
may think fit, and the persons so co-
opted shall have the right to attend the
meetings of the committee, and take part
C.A. No.13651 of 2024 Page 8 of 30
in the proceedings of the committee, but
shall not have the right to vote.
17. Powers and functions of the
Governing Board. —
The powers and functions of the
Governing Board shall be—
(a) to promote the ideals of Auroville and
to coordinate activities and services of
Auroville in consultation with the
Residents‟ Assembly for the purposes of
cohesion and integration of Auroville;
(b) to review the basic policies and the
programmes of Auroville and give
necessary directions for the future
development of Auroville;
(c) to accord approval to the programmes
of Auroville drawn up by the Residents‟
Assembly;
(d) to monitor and review the activities of
Auroville and to secure proper
management of the properties vested in
the Foundation under section 6 and other
properties relatable to Auroville;
(e) to prepare a master-plan of Auroville
in consultation with the Residents‟
Assembly and to ensure development of
Auroville as so planned;
(f) to authorise and coordinate fund-
raising for Auroville and to secure proper
arrangements for receipts and
disbursement of funds for Auroville.
18. Residents’ Assembly. —
(1) The Residents‟ Assembly shall
consist of all the residents of Auroville
who are for the time being entered in the
register of residents maintained under
this section.
(2) The Secretary to the Governing Board
shall maintain the register of residents in
such manner as may be prescribed and
all the persons who are residents of
Auroville and who are of the age of
C.A. No.13651 of 2024 Page 9 of 30
eighteen years and above are entitled to
have their names entered in the register
on an application made to the Secretary
in such form as may be prescribed.
(3) All the names of residents, which
have been included in the register
maintained by the Administrator
appointed under section 5 of the Auroville
(Emergency Provisions) Act, 1980 (59 of
1980) immediately before the appointed
day, shall be deemed to have been
included in the register maintained under
this section.
19. Functions of Residents’ Assembly.
(1) The Resident’s Assembly shall
perform such functions as are required
by this Act and shall advise the
Governing Board in respect of all
activities relating to the residents of
Auroville.
(2) In particular, and without prejudice to
the foregoing powers, the Residents‟
Assembly may—
(a) allow the admission or cause the
termination of persons in the register of
residents in accordance with the
regulations made under section 32;
(b) organise various activities relating to
Auroville;
(c) formulate the master plan of Auroville
and make necessary recommendations
for the recognition of organisations
engaged in activities relatable to
Auroville for the approval of the
Governing Board;
(d) recommend proposals for raising
funds for Auroville for the approval of the
Governing Board.
(3) For the purpose of carrying of its
functions, the Residents‟ Assembly may
establish such committees as it may
consider necessary which shall
represent it in relation to the functions to
be performed by the Governing Board.”
C.A. No.13651 of 2024 Page 10 of 30
(III) Section 31 empowers the Central Government
to make rules for carrying out the provisions of
the A.F. Act. Accordingly, the Ministry of Human
Resource Development (Department of
Education) vide the notification dated
10.11.1997 has framed the rules called the
“Auroville Foundation Rules, 1997 (hereinafter
referred to as the said “A.F. Rules”) in exercise
of the powers conferred by Section 31 of the
A.F. Act.
Rule 5 of the said Rules states about the
Committees of the Foundation, which reads as
under: -
“5. Committees
(1) The following shall be the
Committees of the Foundation, namely –
(a)………
(b)……..
(c) Such other Committee or committees
as may be constituted by the Governing
Board under sub-section (1) of section 16
or by the Residents Assembly under sub-
section (3) of section 19, as the case may
be
(2) Subject to the provision of sub-
rule (1), the Governing Board shall
determine the composition and functions
of every Committee constituted by it
(3) The Residents’ Assembly shall
determine the composition and functions
of every Committee constituted by it
(4)………..”
C.A. No.13651 of 2024 Page 11 of 30
(IV) Section 32 of the A.F. Act empowers the
Governing Board to make regulations not in
consistent with the Act and the Rules made
thereunder, for enabling the Governing Board
to discharge its functions under the Act.
5. Constitution of Auroville Foundation and its
Standing Orders -
I. The Government of India notified the Constitution
of Auroville Foundation as a Statutory body on
29.01.1991 under the A.F. Act. At present it is
under the realm of Ministry of Human
Resources Development (Department of
Higher Education) as the Central Government
Undertaking.
II. As transpiring from the record, the original
Galaxy Plan envisioned by the “Mother” in
1968 was the plan with four zones in Auroville,
with the centripetal force, being the
“Matrimandir”. The said Galaxy Plan was
revised in 1972 as the First Master Plan called
the “Town Plan”. As the A.F. Act required
statutory Master Plan as contemplated in
Section 17(e) read with Section 19(2)(c) of the
C.A. No.13651 of 2024 Page 12 of 30
said A.F. Act, the Master Plan was approved by
the Governing Board and the Residents’
Assembly of the Appellant Foundation in 1999.
The said 1999 Master Plan was further
approved by the Competent Authority- the
Town and Country Planning Organisation
(TCPO), Ministry of Urban Development, on
15.02.2001 under the Model Town and Country
Planning Act. The said Master Plan was
notified on 16.08.2010 and published in the
Gazette on 28.08.2010.
III. In view of Section 11(3) of the A.F. Act, the
Governing Board decided, that “Standing
Orders” not inconsistent with the provisions of
the A.F. Act and the Rules made thereunder, on
the matters that the Governing Board may
consider appropriate and necessary, shall be
notified from time to time, by the Auroville
Foundation. The said Resolution was notified
in the Gazette of India, Part III, dated
05.03.2011 by the Ministry of Human
Resources Development (Department of
Higher Education).
C.A. No.13651 of 2024 Page 13 of 30
IV. Since the said approved Master Plan
prescribed the “Town Development Council” as
the body for implementing the Master Plan with
the organizational structure as in Appendix V of
the Master Plan, the Governing Board in terms
of the provisions of the Master Plan,
constituted the Town Development Council for
the purpose of implementation of the Master
Plan, vide the Standing Order No.6/2011 dated
01.05.2011, which was notified in the
Government of India Gazette, Part III, dated
11.06.2011. The said Standing Order dated
01.05.2011 came to be replaced by the
Standing Order No.1/2019 dated 04.06.2019.
V. Again, the said Standing Order dated
04.06.2019 came to be replaced by the
Standing Order No.1/2022 dated 01.06.2022,
which was notified in the Gazette of India, Part
III, on 15.07.2022. On 01.06.2022, the Auroville
Foundation issued the Office Order for the re-
constitution of the Auroville Town Development
Council (ATDC). The Appellant-Foundation
thereafter also issued a Corrigendum dated
07.12.2022, to the Standing Order No. 1/2022
C.A. No.13651 of 2024 Page 14 of 30
dated 01.06.2022, in order to clarify and add
the source of statutory power in the Preamble
to the said original Standing Order dated
01.06.2022. The said Corrigendum was also
published in the Gazette of India, Part III, on
10.12.2022.
6. Series of Litigations: -
It appears that some disgruntled residents of
Auroville, instead of cooperating the Governing
Board of the Foundation in the implementation of the
said legally approved Master Plan and in carrying out
the development work of Auroville as per the said
Master Plan envisioned by the “Mother,” started
causing obstructions by filing the Petitions in the High
Court of Judicature at Madras one after the other,
dragging the Appellant-Foundation into unnecessary
litigations. As transpiring from the records, the
following litigations came to be filed.
(i) A Writ Petition being No.17181/2020 came to
be filed by one Mr. M. Ayyanarappan,
challenging some of the clauses of Auroville
Master Plan 2010 after the years of its approval
and publication in the Official Gazette. The said
petition came to be dismissed as withdrawn by
C.A. No.13651 of 2024 Page 15 of 30
the Division Bench of the High Court vide the
order dated 15.02.2022.
(ii) Two other petitions being Writ Petition
No.18220/2021 and Writ Petition No.597/2022
came to be filed by the petitioner Mr. A. Suriya,
the son of the earlier petitioner Mr. M.
Ayyanarappan, challenging some of the
clauses of Auroville Master Plan, 2010, and for
restraining the Appellant-Foundation from
implementing the Auroville Master Plan
Perspective 2025. The said two petitions came
to be dismissed as withdrawn by the Division
Bench vide the order dated 20.01.2022,
granting liberty to the said petitioner to avail the
remedy in accordance with law against the
infraction of his personal interest.
(iii) The said Writ Petitioner, Mr. A. Suriya filed
another Writ Petition No.12378/2022 again
challenging some of the clauses of the
Auroville Universal Township Master Plan
Perspective 2025. The said Writ Petition came
to be dismissed by the Division Bench by
passing a detailed order on 07.06.2022, on the
ground of maintainability and delay of more
C.A. No.13651 of 2024 Page 16 of 30
than 12 years in challenging the Gazette
Notification dated 28.08.2010. It was also
observed therein by the Division Bench inter
alia that the Master Plan cannot otherwise be
subjected to challenge unless it is carved out in
violation of the Constitutional or Statutory
provisions.
(iv) Some other Writ Petitions being
No.11738/2022 and others came to be filed by
one Krishna Devanandan and Others in
respect of the functioning of the Appellant-
Foundation, particularly on the imposition of
restrictions on the Residents’ Assembly for
non-updation of the Register of the Residents.
It appears that the said petitions came to be
allowed by the Single Bench vide the order
dated 12.08.2022 issuing various directions
including the directions to the Secretary of
Auroville Foundation to give wide publicity of its
effective administration for updation of the
Register of the Residents Assembly, and
further directing the four statutory bodies of the
Foundation not to take any policy decision
which would alter the existing structure and
C.A. No.13651 of 2024 Page 17 of 30
working of the Auroville Foundation, till the
Register of the Residents’ Assembly was
updated. The said order passed by the Single
Bench having been challenged by the
Appellant-Foundation before the Division
Bench, the same was stayed by the Division
Bench vide the orders dated 26.08.2022, in
W.A.No.1961-1962/2022. The said interim
order was continued till the disposal of the
Appeals on 09.09.2022.
(v) The Respondent herein i.e. Natasha Storey
filed the Writ Petition being No. 22895/2022
challenging the office order dated 01.06.2022
bearing no. AF/M/63 issued by the Appellant-
Foundation and seeking direction against the
Foundation to appoint the members nominated
by the Residents’ Assembly through its working
Council to the ATDC. The said petition came to
be dismissed by the Single Bench vide the
order dated 13.10.2022, however the Court
directed the Appellant-Foundation to issue
appropriate corrigendum to the impugned
office order dated 01.06.2022, tracing the
power under which the said order was issued.
C.A. No.13651 of 2024 Page 18 of 30
The Foundation accordingly issued the
Corrigendum dated 07.12.2022 to the Standing
Order dated 01.06.2022.
(vi) The Respondent Natasha Storey again filed
the Writ Petition being no. 25882/2022 seeking
almost the same relief as sought in the earlier
petition, challenging the notification no.
AF/M/63/2022-23 dated 01.06.2022 containing
the Standing Order No.1/2022 issued by the
Appellant-Foundation, published in the official
gazette on 15.07.2022. The Division Bench
vide the impugned judgment and order dated
15.03.2024 allowed the said Writ Petition and
set aside the said impugned Notification and
the Standing Order issued by the Appellant-
Foundation.
(vii) This Appeal emanates from the said impugned
judgment and order dated 15.03.2024, passed
in the Writ Petition No.25882/2002.
(viii) It may also be noted that the Respondent-
Natasha had also filed an application as an
intervenor, in the proceedings being O.A.
No.239/2021 filed by one Navroz Kersasp
Mody before the National Green Tribunal,
C.A. No.13651 of 2024 Page 19 of 30
Chennai. The Appeals being C.A.s Nos. 5781-
5782/22 arising out of the orders passed by the
NGT in the said proceedings, were also heard
simultaneously by this Court, along with the
present Appeal, and are being decided
simultaneously by a separate judgment.
7. ANALYSIS
From the above array of litigations, it is explicitly clear
that a small group of disgruntled residents of Auroville,
who instead of supporting and cooperating the
Governing Body of Appellant-Foundation, in
implementing the approved Master Plan and
developing Auroville as envisioned by the “Mother,”
kept themselves busy by filing the litigations one after
the other, and causing obstructions in the smooth
implementation of the Master Plan. As narrated
hereinabove one Mr. Suriya and his father filed series
of petitions one after the other. They all came to be
dismissed by the High Court. Then the present
Respondent-Natasha Storey herself filed Writ Petition
No. 22895 of 2022 seeking almost the same relief as
sought in the Writ Petition of the present proceedings,
challenging the Office Order dated 01.06.2022 issued
by the Appellant-Foundation. The said earlier Writ
C.A. No.13651 of 2024 Page 20 of 30
Petition having been dismissed by the High Court vide
the Order dated 13.10.2022, again she filed the Writ
Petition No. 25882 of 2022, without disclosing the fact
of her filing of the earlier petition, and the dismissal of
the same. The Appellant-Foundation (who was
respondent in the said Writ Petition) had raised
specific preliminary objections in its counter affidavit
regarding the maintainability of the petition and
regarding the suppression of material facts by the
respondent.
8. However, unfortunately the High Court without dealing
with such a serious issue, entertained the Writ Petition
of the respondent.
9. It is no more res integra that the Doctrine of “Clean
hands and non-suppression of material facts” is
applicable with full force to every proceedings before
any judicial forum. The party invoking extraordinary
jurisdiction of the High Court under Article 226 of the
Constitution of India must come with clean hands and
disclose all correct and material facts in his Writ
Petition. If it is brought to the notice of the Court that
the petition has been guilty of suppression of material
and relevant facts or has not come with clean hands,
such conduct must be seriously viewed by the courts
C.A. No.13651 of 2024 Page 21 of 30
as the abuse of process of law and the petition must
be dismissed on that ground alone without entering
into the merits of the matter.
10. As held in S.J.S. Business Enterprises (P) Ltd. Vs.
1
State of Bihar & Ors. , as a general rule, suppression
of material fact by a litigant disqualifies such litigant
from obtaining any relief. This rule has been evolved
out of the need of the Courts to deter a litigant from
abusing the process of court by deceiving it. Similar
view has been taken in General Manager, Haryana
2
Roadways Vs. Jai Bhagwan & Anr. , in Prestige
3
Lights Ltd. Vs. State Bank of India etc.
11. In the instant case, the Respondent-Natasha Storey
had challenged the Office Order dated 01.06.2022 by
filing the earlier Writ Petition No. 22895 of 2022, and
the High Court while dismissing the same vide its
Order dated 13.10.2022 had categorically held, after
considering the various provisions of the A.F. Act, that
the activities which are provided under Section 19 of
the Act, to be undertaken by the Residents’ Assembly
are only in the nature of supplementing and not
supplanting the main powers and functions vested
1
AIR 2004 SC 2421
2
(2008) 4 SCC 127
3
(2007) 8 SCC 449
C.A. No.13651 of 2024 Page 22 of 30
with the Governing Board under the provisions of the
Act, and that the writ petitioner could not claim that
she being a member of the Assembly, the right of the
Assembly was getting affected, or the functions of the
Assembly as entrusted through the provisions of the
Act were getting affected. Despite the fact that the
said judgment and order passed in Writ Petition No.
22895 of 2022 was not challenged by the respondent
any further, and had become final, the second Writ
Petition was filed by her (i.e., Writ Petition no.
25882/2022 in the present proceedings), seeking
substantially the same reliefs without disclosing the
said material fact of dismissal of earlier petition. The
non-disclosure of the material facts at the instance of
the respondent should have been seriously viewed by
the High Court, as the abuse of the process of court.
12. So far as the merits of the Appeal are concerned, the
learned Senior Advocate Mr. R. Venkatramani for the
appellant had strenuously taken the court to the
record of the case from which it appears that the
Appellant-Foundation is a Statutory body established
under the A.F. Act, and is under the realm of the
Government of India, in the Ministry of Human
Resource Development (Department of Education).
C.A. No.13651 of 2024 Page 23 of 30
The said Foundation consists of three authorities i.e.,
(a) The Governing Board (b) The Residents’ Assembly
(c) The Auroville International Advisory Council. As
per Section 11(3), the general superintendence,
direction and management of the affairs of the
Foundation vest in the Governing Board, which is
empowered to exercise all the powers and discharge
all the functions which may be exercised or
discharged by the Foundation. Section 16 of the Act
empowers the Governing Board to appoint such
Committees as may be necessary for the efficient
discharge of its duties and performance of its
functions under the Act. The powers and functions of
the Governing Board are prescribed in Section 17.
Clause (e) of Section 17 pertains to the preparation of
Master Plan of Auroville in consultation with the
Residents’ Assembly, and to ensure development of
Auroville as so planned. Meaning thereby, as per
Section 17(e), the Governing Board was required to
prepare a Master Plan of Auroville in consultation with
the Residents’ Assembly, and further to ensure
development of Auroville as per the said Master Plan.
C.A. No.13651 of 2024 Page 24 of 30
13. As already discussed earlier, the Master Plan of
Auroville as envisioned and envisaged by the
“Mother” as an international universal Township
dedicated to human unity and international
understanding, described by her in the Auroville
Charter, was approved by the Governing Board in
consultation with the Residents’ Assembly and was
further approved by the Government of India in
Ministry of Human Resource Development
(Department of Higher Education) vide the letter dated
12.04.2001. It was also notified by the Auroville
Foundation with the approval of the Central
Government, in the Gazette of India, Part III on
16.08.2010. It was only to ensure the development of
Auroville as per the said approved Master Plan, the
Auroville Town Development Council (ATDC) was
constituted as per the Standing Order dated
01.05.2011 issued by the Governing Board. The said
Standing Order was replaced by the Standing Order
No. 01 of 2019 dated 04.06.2019, and the said
Standing Order No. 01 of 2019 has been further
replaced by the Standing Order No. 01 of 2022 dated
01.06.2022 vide the Notification published in the
Gazette of India dated 15.07.2022.
C.A. No.13651 of 2024 Page 25 of 30
14. Though it was sought to be submitted by the learned
counsel Mr. M.V. Swaroop appearing for the
Respondent-Writ Petitioner that the impugned
Standing Order replacing the nominees of the
Residents’ Assembly with the nominees of Governing
Board of the Foundation was not in consonance with
the provisions of the said Act and that the Governing
Board did not have the power to appoint any
committee of its own as contained in the impugned
Standing Order dated 01.06.2022 and the Office
Order dated 01.06.2022, we do not find any
substance in the same. The ATDC was constituted
and reconstituted from time to time by the Governing
Board by issuing the Standing Orders, for the proper
implementation of the approved Master Plan. It may
be noted that in view of Section 11(3), the Governing
Board vide the Regulation No.AF/1/2011/Regulations,
had also decided that “Standing Orders, not in
consistent with the provisions of the Act and the Rules
made thereunder, and without prejudice to the
generality of the laws enacted by the Parliament of
India and/or the legislatures of the States and the
Indian Territory, on all the matters covered by the
provisions of Section 11(3), and also such other
C.A. No.13651 of 2024 Page 26 of 30
matters that Governing Board may consider
appropriate and necessary, shall be notified by the
Auroville Foundation from time to time. The said
Regulation was also notified in the Government of
India Gazette on 05.03.2011. The said Regulation
clearly empowered the Governing Board of the
Appellant-Foundation to issue the Standing Orders on
all the matters covered by the provisions of Section
11(3) as also such other matters that the Governing
Board may consider appropriate and necessary.
15. Further, Section 16 of the Act also empowers the
Governing Board to appoint such committees as may
be necessary for the efficient discharge of its duties
and performance of its functions under the Act. Even
as per Rule 5 of the said Rules, the Governing Board
is empowered to constitute the committees under sub-
section (1) of Section 16. As per Rule 5(2), it is the
Governing Board alone which has to determine the
composition and functions of every committee
constituted by it. Neither the said A.F. Act nor the said
Rules contemplate or confer any right upon the
Residents’ Assembly, much less upon an individual
resident of Auroville to be part of any committee or
council constituted by the Governing Board for the
C.A. No.13651 of 2024 Page 27 of 30
efficient discharge of its duties and functions under the
Act.
16. From the conjoint reading of the provisions of the A.F.
Act and the said Rules, there remains no shadow of
doubt that the Governing Board is vested with all the
powers and is empowered to discharge all the
functions as may be exercised or discharged by the
Foundation, and that the general superintendence,
direction and management of the affairs of the
Foundation vests in the Governing Board alone.
Though, it is true that Section 19(1)(c) required the
Residents’ Assembly to assist the Governing Board to
formulate the Master Plan of Auroville, however, the
said stage was already over, when the Master Plan
was prepared by the Governing Board in consultation
with the Residents’ Assembly as contemplated in
Section 17(e), and was then approved by the Central
Government, Ministry of Human Resource
Development way back in 2001. After the publication
of the said Master Plan, the Governing Board had
issued the Standing Orders from time to time for the
implementation of the said approved Master Plan and
for the development of Auroville as planned.
C.A. No.13651 of 2024 Page 28 of 30
17. Having regard to the statutory provisions in the Act
and the Rules, we are of the opinion that the
impugned Standing Order 01.06.2022 containing the
Standing Order No. 01/2022 does not suffer from any
legal infirmity. There is no legal or statutory right
conferred upon the Residents’ Assembly or upon an
individual resident to be part of any committee/council
constituted by the Governing Board in exercise of its
powers conferred under Section 11(3), 16(1) and
17(e) of the said Act read with Rule 5(1) and 5(2) of
the said Rules. The functions of the Residents’
Assembly are confined only to advise the Governing
Board in respect of the activities relating to the
residents of Auroville and to make recommendations
as specified in Section 19 of the Act, and not any
further.
18. In that view of the matter, we are of the opinion that
the High Court has thoroughly misdirected itself in
misinterpreting the provisions of the A.F. Act and in
setting aside the impugned Notification containing the
Standing Order dated 01.06.2022. The impugned
Order being highly erroneous deserves to be set
aside, and is hereby set aside.
C.A. No.13651 of 2024 Page 29 of 30
19. As demonstrated earlier, some disgruntled and
discontented residents kept on filing petitions one
after the other dragging the Appellant-Foundation into
unnecessary litigations. The Writ Petition filed by the
respondent before the High Court was one of such ill-
motivated petitions filed by her to abuse the process
of law, to hamper the development of Auroville and to
cause obstructions in the smooth functioning of the
Governing Board of the Foundation. Hence, the
Appeal is allowed with cost of Rs.50,000/- to be
deposited by the respondent before the Supreme
Court Legal Service Committee within two weeks from
today. The office to follow the compliance.
20. The Appeal stands allowed accordingly.
....….....…………………J.
[BELA M. TRIVEDI]
....…......…………..……….J.
[PRASANNA B. VARALE]
NEW DELHI;
th
17 MARCH, 2025
C.A. No.13651 of 2024 Page 30 of 30
REPORTABLE
IN THE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA
CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION
CIVIL APPEAL NO. 13651 OF 2024
THE AUROVILLE FOUNDATION .... APPELLANT
VERSUS
NATASHA STOREY .... RESPONDENT
J U D G M E N T
BELA M. TRIVEDI, J.
1. The legality and validity of the Judgment and Order
dated 15.03.2024 passed by the High Court of
Judicature at Madras in Writ Petition No. 25882 of
2022, allowing the said Writ Petition filed by the
Respondent- Natasha Storey and setting aside the
impugned Notification dated 01.06.2022 containing
the Standing Order No. 01/2022 issued by the
Appellant – Foundation, is under challenge before this
Court by way of instant appeal.
Signature Not Verified
Digitally signed by
RAVI ARORA
Date: 2025.03.17
17:16:26 IST
Reason:
C.A. No.13651 of 2024 Page 1 of 30
2. Before adverting to issues involved in the Appeal, it
would be apposite to peep into the history of Auroville,
and the objects and reasons of enacting the Auroville
Foundation Act (hereinafter referred to as the “A.F.
Act”).
3. Prelude on the History of Auroville: -
(I) In 1965, the “Mother” (Mirra Alfassa, a French
Lady), a spiritual collaborator of Sri Aurobindo
(a Spiritual reformer, Philosopher and
Educationist), envisioned to launch the project
of Auroville, with an aim to establish an
international universal township, where men
and women of all countries are able to live in
peace and harmony, above all creeds, all
politics and all nationalities and to realise
human unity. The project of Auroville was
formerly inaugurated by the “Mother” in
28.02.1968. The Charter of Auroville given by
the “Mother” was the following:
“1. Auroville belongs to nobody in
particular. Auroville belongs to humanity
as a whole. But to live in Auroville one
must be a willing servitor of the Divine
Consciousness.
C.A. No.13651 of 2024 Page 2 of 30
2. Auroville will be the place of an
unending education, of constant
progress and a youth that never ages.
3. Auroville wants to be the bridge
between the past and the future. Taking
advantage of all discoveries from without
and from within, Auroville will boldly
spring towards future realisations.
4. Auroville will be a site of material and
spiritual researches for a living
embodiment of an actual Human Unity.”
(II) The original Master Plan of the Auroville was
conceptualized in Galaxy shape, and was
planned to eventually accommodate 50,000
residents, a number which the “Mother”
considered sufficient to allow the experiment in
human unity to take on a meaningful and
significant dimension. Picture of Galaxy Model
Plan conceptualized in 1968 is shown below:
C.A. No.13651 of 2024 Page 3 of 30
(III) The project Auroville was legally started as the
project of a charitable organization, “The Sri
Aurobindo Society” in Pondicherry, which was
created to diffuse Sri Aurobindo’s thoughts. The
development of Auroville in the initial few years
showed good progress and it further developed
at a rapid pace. Number of Indians and
foreigners settled down in Auroville and devoted
themselves to various activities showing a
remarkable harmony amongst the members of
Auroville, which gave a promise to the
Government of India of an early fulfilment of the
ideals for which Auroville was established. It was
also encouraged by UNESCO and other
International Organizations of the world.
However, after the “Mother” passed away in
1973, the situation changed, and number of
complaints came to be received by the
Government of India with regard to the
mismanagement in the working of the Sri
Aurobindo Society. Following the requests by
majority of Auroville residents, the Government
of India issued a Presidential Ordinance called
the Auroville (Emergency Provisions)
C.A. No.13651 of 2024 Page 4 of 30
Ordinance, 1980, later replaced by the Auroville
(Emergency Provisions) Act, 1980. Finally, the
Government of India created a unique status for
Auroville by passing the A.F. Act.
4. The Provisions of A.F. Act: -
(I) The long title of the said A.F. Act of 1988
enacted by the Parliament on 29.09.1988
reads as under:
“THE AUROVILLE FOUNDATION ACT,
1988
ACT NO. 54 OF 1988
[29th September, 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 the
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.
WHEREAS Auroville was founded by
the “Mother” on the 28th day of February,
1968 as an international cultural
township;
AND WHEREAS in view of the
serious difficulties which had arisen with
regard to the management of Auroville,
the management thereof had been
vested in the Central Government for a
limited period by the Auroville
(Emergency Provisions) Act, 1980 (59 of
1980);
AND WHEREAS under the
management of the Central Government
C.A. No.13651 of 2024 Page 5 of 30
and under the overall guidance of the
International Advisory Council set up
under the aforesaid Act, 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;
AND WHEREAS Auroville was
developed as a cultural township with the
aid of funds received from different
organisations in and outside India as also
from substantial grants received from the
Central and State Governments, and the
United Nations Educational Scientific
and Cultural Organisation also had, from
time to time, reflected in its resolutions
that the project on Auroville is
contributing to international
understanding and promotion of peace;
AND WHEREAS for the purpose of
encouraging, continuing and
consolidating the aforesaid activities of
Auroville, it is necessary in the public
interest to acquire the undertakings of
Auroville and to vest them in a body
corporate established for the purpose;
BE it enacted by Parliament in the
Thirty-ninth Year of the Republic of India
as follows: —"
(II) The relevant provisions contained in Chapter-
III, germane for the purpose of deciding the
present Appeal are reproduced for ready
reference:
“10. Establishment and incorporation
of the Foundation . —
(1) With effect from such date as the
Central Government may, by notification,
appoint in this behalf, there shall be
established for the purpose of this Act, a
C.A. No.13651 of 2024 Page 6 of 30
Foundation, to be called the Auroville
Foundation.
(2) The Foundation shall be a body
corporate by the name aforesaid, having
perpetual succession and a common
seal with power to acquire, hold and
dispose of property, both movable and
immovable, and to contract and shall by
the said name sue and be sued.
(3) The Foundation shall consist of the
following authorities, namely: —
(a) the Governing Board;
(b) the Residents’ Assembly;
(c) the Auroville International Advisory
Council
11. Governing Board. —
(1) The Governing Board shall consist of
the following members, namely: —
(i) not more than seven members to be
nominated by the Central Government
from amongst persons, who have—
(a) rendered valuable service to
Auroville;
(b) dedicated themselves to the ideals of
life-long education, synthesis of material
and spiritual researches or human unity;
(c) contributed significantly in activities
that are being persued or are envisaged
to be promoted in Auroville, including
activities relating to environment,
afforestation, arts and crafts, industry,
agriculture, humanities, sciences and
integral yoga;
(ii) two representatives of the Central
Government to be nominated by it.
(2) The Central Government shall
nominate a Chairman of the Governing
Board from amongst the members
nominated by it under clause (i) of sub-
section (1).
(3) The general superintendence,
direction and management of the affairs
of the Foundation shall vest in the
Governing Board which may exercise all
C.A. No.13651 of 2024 Page 7 of 30
the powers and discharge all the
functions which may be exercised or
discharged by the Foundation.
(4) The Governing Board may associate
with itself in such manner and for such
purposes as may be prescribed, any
persons whose assistance or advice it
may desire in complying with any of the
provisions of this Act and a person so
associated shall have the right to take
part in the discussions of the Governing
Board relevant to the purposes for which
he has been associated, but shall not
have the right to vote.
(5) No act or proceeding of the Governing
Board or any committee appointed by it
under section 16 shall be invalidated
merely by reason of, —
(a) any vacancy in, or any defect in the
constitution of, the Governing Board or
such committee; or
(b) any defect in the nomination of a
person acting as a member of the
Governing Board or such committee; or
(c) any irregularity in the procedure of the
Governing Board or such committee not
affecting the merits of the case.
12 to 15…………..
16. Committees of the Governing
Board . —
(1) The Governing Board may appoint
such committees as may be necessary
for the efficient discharge of its duties and
performance of its functions under this
Act.
(2) The Governing Board shall have the
power to co-opt as members of any
committee appointed under sub-section
(1), such number of persons who are not
members of the Governing Board as it
may think fit, and the persons so co-
opted shall have the right to attend the
meetings of the committee, and take part
C.A. No.13651 of 2024 Page 8 of 30
in the proceedings of the committee, but
shall not have the right to vote.
17. Powers and functions of the
Governing Board. —
The powers and functions of the
Governing Board shall be—
(a) to promote the ideals of Auroville and
to coordinate activities and services of
Auroville in consultation with the
Residents‟ Assembly for the purposes of
cohesion and integration of Auroville;
(b) to review the basic policies and the
programmes of Auroville and give
necessary directions for the future
development of Auroville;
(c) to accord approval to the programmes
of Auroville drawn up by the Residents‟
Assembly;
(d) to monitor and review the activities of
Auroville and to secure proper
management of the properties vested in
the Foundation under section 6 and other
properties relatable to Auroville;
(e) to prepare a master-plan of Auroville
in consultation with the Residents‟
Assembly and to ensure development of
Auroville as so planned;
(f) to authorise and coordinate fund-
raising for Auroville and to secure proper
arrangements for receipts and
disbursement of funds for Auroville.
18. Residents’ Assembly. —
(1) The Residents‟ Assembly shall
consist of all the residents of Auroville
who are for the time being entered in the
register of residents maintained under
this section.
(2) The Secretary to the Governing Board
shall maintain the register of residents in
such manner as may be prescribed and
all the persons who are residents of
Auroville and who are of the age of
C.A. No.13651 of 2024 Page 9 of 30
eighteen years and above are entitled to
have their names entered in the register
on an application made to the Secretary
in such form as may be prescribed.
(3) All the names of residents, which
have been included in the register
maintained by the Administrator
appointed under section 5 of the Auroville
(Emergency Provisions) Act, 1980 (59 of
1980) immediately before the appointed
day, shall be deemed to have been
included in the register maintained under
this section.
19. Functions of Residents’ Assembly.
(1) The Resident’s Assembly shall
perform such functions as are required
by this Act and shall advise the
Governing Board in respect of all
activities relating to the residents of
Auroville.
(2) In particular, and without prejudice to
the foregoing powers, the Residents‟
Assembly may—
(a) allow the admission or cause the
termination of persons in the register of
residents in accordance with the
regulations made under section 32;
(b) organise various activities relating to
Auroville;
(c) formulate the master plan of Auroville
and make necessary recommendations
for the recognition of organisations
engaged in activities relatable to
Auroville for the approval of the
Governing Board;
(d) recommend proposals for raising
funds for Auroville for the approval of the
Governing Board.
(3) For the purpose of carrying of its
functions, the Residents‟ Assembly may
establish such committees as it may
consider necessary which shall
represent it in relation to the functions to
be performed by the Governing Board.”
C.A. No.13651 of 2024 Page 10 of 30
(III) Section 31 empowers the Central Government
to make rules for carrying out the provisions of
the A.F. Act. Accordingly, the Ministry of Human
Resource Development (Department of
Education) vide the notification dated
10.11.1997 has framed the rules called the
“Auroville Foundation Rules, 1997 (hereinafter
referred to as the said “A.F. Rules”) in exercise
of the powers conferred by Section 31 of the
A.F. Act.
Rule 5 of the said Rules states about the
Committees of the Foundation, which reads as
under: -
“5. Committees
(1) The following shall be the
Committees of the Foundation, namely –
(a)………
(b)……..
(c) Such other Committee or committees
as may be constituted by the Governing
Board under sub-section (1) of section 16
or by the Residents Assembly under sub-
section (3) of section 19, as the case may
be
(2) Subject to the provision of sub-
rule (1), the Governing Board shall
determine the composition and functions
of every Committee constituted by it
(3) The Residents’ Assembly shall
determine the composition and functions
of every Committee constituted by it
(4)………..”
C.A. No.13651 of 2024 Page 11 of 30
(IV) Section 32 of the A.F. Act empowers the
Governing Board to make regulations not in
consistent with the Act and the Rules made
thereunder, for enabling the Governing Board
to discharge its functions under the Act.
5. Constitution of Auroville Foundation and its
Standing Orders -
I. The Government of India notified the Constitution
of Auroville Foundation as a Statutory body on
29.01.1991 under the A.F. Act. At present it is
under the realm of Ministry of Human
Resources Development (Department of
Higher Education) as the Central Government
Undertaking.
II. As transpiring from the record, the original
Galaxy Plan envisioned by the “Mother” in
1968 was the plan with four zones in Auroville,
with the centripetal force, being the
“Matrimandir”. The said Galaxy Plan was
revised in 1972 as the First Master Plan called
the “Town Plan”. As the A.F. Act required
statutory Master Plan as contemplated in
Section 17(e) read with Section 19(2)(c) of the
C.A. No.13651 of 2024 Page 12 of 30
said A.F. Act, the Master Plan was approved by
the Governing Board and the Residents’
Assembly of the Appellant Foundation in 1999.
The said 1999 Master Plan was further
approved by the Competent Authority- the
Town and Country Planning Organisation
(TCPO), Ministry of Urban Development, on
15.02.2001 under the Model Town and Country
Planning Act. The said Master Plan was
notified on 16.08.2010 and published in the
Gazette on 28.08.2010.
III. In view of Section 11(3) of the A.F. Act, the
Governing Board decided, that “Standing
Orders” not inconsistent with the provisions of
the A.F. Act and the Rules made thereunder, on
the matters that the Governing Board may
consider appropriate and necessary, shall be
notified from time to time, by the Auroville
Foundation. The said Resolution was notified
in the Gazette of India, Part III, dated
05.03.2011 by the Ministry of Human
Resources Development (Department of
Higher Education).
C.A. No.13651 of 2024 Page 13 of 30
IV. Since the said approved Master Plan
prescribed the “Town Development Council” as
the body for implementing the Master Plan with
the organizational structure as in Appendix V of
the Master Plan, the Governing Board in terms
of the provisions of the Master Plan,
constituted the Town Development Council for
the purpose of implementation of the Master
Plan, vide the Standing Order No.6/2011 dated
01.05.2011, which was notified in the
Government of India Gazette, Part III, dated
11.06.2011. The said Standing Order dated
01.05.2011 came to be replaced by the
Standing Order No.1/2019 dated 04.06.2019.
V. Again, the said Standing Order dated
04.06.2019 came to be replaced by the
Standing Order No.1/2022 dated 01.06.2022,
which was notified in the Gazette of India, Part
III, on 15.07.2022. On 01.06.2022, the Auroville
Foundation issued the Office Order for the re-
constitution of the Auroville Town Development
Council (ATDC). The Appellant-Foundation
thereafter also issued a Corrigendum dated
07.12.2022, to the Standing Order No. 1/2022
C.A. No.13651 of 2024 Page 14 of 30
dated 01.06.2022, in order to clarify and add
the source of statutory power in the Preamble
to the said original Standing Order dated
01.06.2022. The said Corrigendum was also
published in the Gazette of India, Part III, on
10.12.2022.
6. Series of Litigations: -
It appears that some disgruntled residents of
Auroville, instead of cooperating the Governing
Board of the Foundation in the implementation of the
said legally approved Master Plan and in carrying out
the development work of Auroville as per the said
Master Plan envisioned by the “Mother,” started
causing obstructions by filing the Petitions in the High
Court of Judicature at Madras one after the other,
dragging the Appellant-Foundation into unnecessary
litigations. As transpiring from the records, the
following litigations came to be filed.
(i) A Writ Petition being No.17181/2020 came to
be filed by one Mr. M. Ayyanarappan,
challenging some of the clauses of Auroville
Master Plan 2010 after the years of its approval
and publication in the Official Gazette. The said
petition came to be dismissed as withdrawn by
C.A. No.13651 of 2024 Page 15 of 30
the Division Bench of the High Court vide the
order dated 15.02.2022.
(ii) Two other petitions being Writ Petition
No.18220/2021 and Writ Petition No.597/2022
came to be filed by the petitioner Mr. A. Suriya,
the son of the earlier petitioner Mr. M.
Ayyanarappan, challenging some of the
clauses of Auroville Master Plan, 2010, and for
restraining the Appellant-Foundation from
implementing the Auroville Master Plan
Perspective 2025. The said two petitions came
to be dismissed as withdrawn by the Division
Bench vide the order dated 20.01.2022,
granting liberty to the said petitioner to avail the
remedy in accordance with law against the
infraction of his personal interest.
(iii) The said Writ Petitioner, Mr. A. Suriya filed
another Writ Petition No.12378/2022 again
challenging some of the clauses of the
Auroville Universal Township Master Plan
Perspective 2025. The said Writ Petition came
to be dismissed by the Division Bench by
passing a detailed order on 07.06.2022, on the
ground of maintainability and delay of more
C.A. No.13651 of 2024 Page 16 of 30
than 12 years in challenging the Gazette
Notification dated 28.08.2010. It was also
observed therein by the Division Bench inter
alia that the Master Plan cannot otherwise be
subjected to challenge unless it is carved out in
violation of the Constitutional or Statutory
provisions.
(iv) Some other Writ Petitions being
No.11738/2022 and others came to be filed by
one Krishna Devanandan and Others in
respect of the functioning of the Appellant-
Foundation, particularly on the imposition of
restrictions on the Residents’ Assembly for
non-updation of the Register of the Residents.
It appears that the said petitions came to be
allowed by the Single Bench vide the order
dated 12.08.2022 issuing various directions
including the directions to the Secretary of
Auroville Foundation to give wide publicity of its
effective administration for updation of the
Register of the Residents Assembly, and
further directing the four statutory bodies of the
Foundation not to take any policy decision
which would alter the existing structure and
C.A. No.13651 of 2024 Page 17 of 30
working of the Auroville Foundation, till the
Register of the Residents’ Assembly was
updated. The said order passed by the Single
Bench having been challenged by the
Appellant-Foundation before the Division
Bench, the same was stayed by the Division
Bench vide the orders dated 26.08.2022, in
W.A.No.1961-1962/2022. The said interim
order was continued till the disposal of the
Appeals on 09.09.2022.
(v) The Respondent herein i.e. Natasha Storey
filed the Writ Petition being No. 22895/2022
challenging the office order dated 01.06.2022
bearing no. AF/M/63 issued by the Appellant-
Foundation and seeking direction against the
Foundation to appoint the members nominated
by the Residents’ Assembly through its working
Council to the ATDC. The said petition came to
be dismissed by the Single Bench vide the
order dated 13.10.2022, however the Court
directed the Appellant-Foundation to issue
appropriate corrigendum to the impugned
office order dated 01.06.2022, tracing the
power under which the said order was issued.
C.A. No.13651 of 2024 Page 18 of 30
The Foundation accordingly issued the
Corrigendum dated 07.12.2022 to the Standing
Order dated 01.06.2022.
(vi) The Respondent Natasha Storey again filed
the Writ Petition being no. 25882/2022 seeking
almost the same relief as sought in the earlier
petition, challenging the notification no.
AF/M/63/2022-23 dated 01.06.2022 containing
the Standing Order No.1/2022 issued by the
Appellant-Foundation, published in the official
gazette on 15.07.2022. The Division Bench
vide the impugned judgment and order dated
15.03.2024 allowed the said Writ Petition and
set aside the said impugned Notification and
the Standing Order issued by the Appellant-
Foundation.
(vii) This Appeal emanates from the said impugned
judgment and order dated 15.03.2024, passed
in the Writ Petition No.25882/2002.
(viii) It may also be noted that the Respondent-
Natasha had also filed an application as an
intervenor, in the proceedings being O.A.
No.239/2021 filed by one Navroz Kersasp
Mody before the National Green Tribunal,
C.A. No.13651 of 2024 Page 19 of 30
Chennai. The Appeals being C.A.s Nos. 5781-
5782/22 arising out of the orders passed by the
NGT in the said proceedings, were also heard
simultaneously by this Court, along with the
present Appeal, and are being decided
simultaneously by a separate judgment.
7. ANALYSIS
From the above array of litigations, it is explicitly clear
that a small group of disgruntled residents of Auroville,
who instead of supporting and cooperating the
Governing Body of Appellant-Foundation, in
implementing the approved Master Plan and
developing Auroville as envisioned by the “Mother,”
kept themselves busy by filing the litigations one after
the other, and causing obstructions in the smooth
implementation of the Master Plan. As narrated
hereinabove one Mr. Suriya and his father filed series
of petitions one after the other. They all came to be
dismissed by the High Court. Then the present
Respondent-Natasha Storey herself filed Writ Petition
No. 22895 of 2022 seeking almost the same relief as
sought in the Writ Petition of the present proceedings,
challenging the Office Order dated 01.06.2022 issued
by the Appellant-Foundation. The said earlier Writ
C.A. No.13651 of 2024 Page 20 of 30
Petition having been dismissed by the High Court vide
the Order dated 13.10.2022, again she filed the Writ
Petition No. 25882 of 2022, without disclosing the fact
of her filing of the earlier petition, and the dismissal of
the same. The Appellant-Foundation (who was
respondent in the said Writ Petition) had raised
specific preliminary objections in its counter affidavit
regarding the maintainability of the petition and
regarding the suppression of material facts by the
respondent.
8. However, unfortunately the High Court without dealing
with such a serious issue, entertained the Writ Petition
of the respondent.
9. It is no more res integra that the Doctrine of “Clean
hands and non-suppression of material facts” is
applicable with full force to every proceedings before
any judicial forum. The party invoking extraordinary
jurisdiction of the High Court under Article 226 of the
Constitution of India must come with clean hands and
disclose all correct and material facts in his Writ
Petition. If it is brought to the notice of the Court that
the petition has been guilty of suppression of material
and relevant facts or has not come with clean hands,
such conduct must be seriously viewed by the courts
C.A. No.13651 of 2024 Page 21 of 30
as the abuse of process of law and the petition must
be dismissed on that ground alone without entering
into the merits of the matter.
10. As held in S.J.S. Business Enterprises (P) Ltd. Vs.
1
State of Bihar & Ors. , as a general rule, suppression
of material fact by a litigant disqualifies such litigant
from obtaining any relief. This rule has been evolved
out of the need of the Courts to deter a litigant from
abusing the process of court by deceiving it. Similar
view has been taken in General Manager, Haryana
2
Roadways Vs. Jai Bhagwan & Anr. , in Prestige
3
Lights Ltd. Vs. State Bank of India etc.
11. In the instant case, the Respondent-Natasha Storey
had challenged the Office Order dated 01.06.2022 by
filing the earlier Writ Petition No. 22895 of 2022, and
the High Court while dismissing the same vide its
Order dated 13.10.2022 had categorically held, after
considering the various provisions of the A.F. Act, that
the activities which are provided under Section 19 of
the Act, to be undertaken by the Residents’ Assembly
are only in the nature of supplementing and not
supplanting the main powers and functions vested
1
AIR 2004 SC 2421
2
(2008) 4 SCC 127
3
(2007) 8 SCC 449
C.A. No.13651 of 2024 Page 22 of 30
with the Governing Board under the provisions of the
Act, and that the writ petitioner could not claim that
she being a member of the Assembly, the right of the
Assembly was getting affected, or the functions of the
Assembly as entrusted through the provisions of the
Act were getting affected. Despite the fact that the
said judgment and order passed in Writ Petition No.
22895 of 2022 was not challenged by the respondent
any further, and had become final, the second Writ
Petition was filed by her (i.e., Writ Petition no.
25882/2022 in the present proceedings), seeking
substantially the same reliefs without disclosing the
said material fact of dismissal of earlier petition. The
non-disclosure of the material facts at the instance of
the respondent should have been seriously viewed by
the High Court, as the abuse of the process of court.
12. So far as the merits of the Appeal are concerned, the
learned Senior Advocate Mr. R. Venkatramani for the
appellant had strenuously taken the court to the
record of the case from which it appears that the
Appellant-Foundation is a Statutory body established
under the A.F. Act, and is under the realm of the
Government of India, in the Ministry of Human
Resource Development (Department of Education).
C.A. No.13651 of 2024 Page 23 of 30
The said Foundation consists of three authorities i.e.,
(a) The Governing Board (b) The Residents’ Assembly
(c) The Auroville International Advisory Council. As
per Section 11(3), the general superintendence,
direction and management of the affairs of the
Foundation vest in the Governing Board, which is
empowered to exercise all the powers and discharge
all the functions which may be exercised or
discharged by the Foundation. Section 16 of the Act
empowers the Governing Board to appoint such
Committees as may be necessary for the efficient
discharge of its duties and performance of its
functions under the Act. The powers and functions of
the Governing Board are prescribed in Section 17.
Clause (e) of Section 17 pertains to the preparation of
Master Plan of Auroville in consultation with the
Residents’ Assembly, and to ensure development of
Auroville as so planned. Meaning thereby, as per
Section 17(e), the Governing Board was required to
prepare a Master Plan of Auroville in consultation with
the Residents’ Assembly, and further to ensure
development of Auroville as per the said Master Plan.
C.A. No.13651 of 2024 Page 24 of 30
13. As already discussed earlier, the Master Plan of
Auroville as envisioned and envisaged by the
“Mother” as an international universal Township
dedicated to human unity and international
understanding, described by her in the Auroville
Charter, was approved by the Governing Board in
consultation with the Residents’ Assembly and was
further approved by the Government of India in
Ministry of Human Resource Development
(Department of Higher Education) vide the letter dated
12.04.2001. It was also notified by the Auroville
Foundation with the approval of the Central
Government, in the Gazette of India, Part III on
16.08.2010. It was only to ensure the development of
Auroville as per the said approved Master Plan, the
Auroville Town Development Council (ATDC) was
constituted as per the Standing Order dated
01.05.2011 issued by the Governing Board. The said
Standing Order was replaced by the Standing Order
No. 01 of 2019 dated 04.06.2019, and the said
Standing Order No. 01 of 2019 has been further
replaced by the Standing Order No. 01 of 2022 dated
01.06.2022 vide the Notification published in the
Gazette of India dated 15.07.2022.
C.A. No.13651 of 2024 Page 25 of 30
14. Though it was sought to be submitted by the learned
counsel Mr. M.V. Swaroop appearing for the
Respondent-Writ Petitioner that the impugned
Standing Order replacing the nominees of the
Residents’ Assembly with the nominees of Governing
Board of the Foundation was not in consonance with
the provisions of the said Act and that the Governing
Board did not have the power to appoint any
committee of its own as contained in the impugned
Standing Order dated 01.06.2022 and the Office
Order dated 01.06.2022, we do not find any
substance in the same. The ATDC was constituted
and reconstituted from time to time by the Governing
Board by issuing the Standing Orders, for the proper
implementation of the approved Master Plan. It may
be noted that in view of Section 11(3), the Governing
Board vide the Regulation No.AF/1/2011/Regulations,
had also decided that “Standing Orders, not in
consistent with the provisions of the Act and the Rules
made thereunder, and without prejudice to the
generality of the laws enacted by the Parliament of
India and/or the legislatures of the States and the
Indian Territory, on all the matters covered by the
provisions of Section 11(3), and also such other
C.A. No.13651 of 2024 Page 26 of 30
matters that Governing Board may consider
appropriate and necessary, shall be notified by the
Auroville Foundation from time to time. The said
Regulation was also notified in the Government of
India Gazette on 05.03.2011. The said Regulation
clearly empowered the Governing Board of the
Appellant-Foundation to issue the Standing Orders on
all the matters covered by the provisions of Section
11(3) as also such other matters that the Governing
Board may consider appropriate and necessary.
15. Further, Section 16 of the Act also empowers the
Governing Board to appoint such committees as may
be necessary for the efficient discharge of its duties
and performance of its functions under the Act. Even
as per Rule 5 of the said Rules, the Governing Board
is empowered to constitute the committees under sub-
section (1) of Section 16. As per Rule 5(2), it is the
Governing Board alone which has to determine the
composition and functions of every committee
constituted by it. Neither the said A.F. Act nor the said
Rules contemplate or confer any right upon the
Residents’ Assembly, much less upon an individual
resident of Auroville to be part of any committee or
council constituted by the Governing Board for the
C.A. No.13651 of 2024 Page 27 of 30
efficient discharge of its duties and functions under the
Act.
16. From the conjoint reading of the provisions of the A.F.
Act and the said Rules, there remains no shadow of
doubt that the Governing Board is vested with all the
powers and is empowered to discharge all the
functions as may be exercised or discharged by the
Foundation, and that the general superintendence,
direction and management of the affairs of the
Foundation vests in the Governing Board alone.
Though, it is true that Section 19(1)(c) required the
Residents’ Assembly to assist the Governing Board to
formulate the Master Plan of Auroville, however, the
said stage was already over, when the Master Plan
was prepared by the Governing Board in consultation
with the Residents’ Assembly as contemplated in
Section 17(e), and was then approved by the Central
Government, Ministry of Human Resource
Development way back in 2001. After the publication
of the said Master Plan, the Governing Board had
issued the Standing Orders from time to time for the
implementation of the said approved Master Plan and
for the development of Auroville as planned.
C.A. No.13651 of 2024 Page 28 of 30
17. Having regard to the statutory provisions in the Act
and the Rules, we are of the opinion that the
impugned Standing Order 01.06.2022 containing the
Standing Order No. 01/2022 does not suffer from any
legal infirmity. There is no legal or statutory right
conferred upon the Residents’ Assembly or upon an
individual resident to be part of any committee/council
constituted by the Governing Board in exercise of its
powers conferred under Section 11(3), 16(1) and
17(e) of the said Act read with Rule 5(1) and 5(2) of
the said Rules. The functions of the Residents’
Assembly are confined only to advise the Governing
Board in respect of the activities relating to the
residents of Auroville and to make recommendations
as specified in Section 19 of the Act, and not any
further.
18. In that view of the matter, we are of the opinion that
the High Court has thoroughly misdirected itself in
misinterpreting the provisions of the A.F. Act and in
setting aside the impugned Notification containing the
Standing Order dated 01.06.2022. The impugned
Order being highly erroneous deserves to be set
aside, and is hereby set aside.
C.A. No.13651 of 2024 Page 29 of 30
19. As demonstrated earlier, some disgruntled and
discontented residents kept on filing petitions one
after the other dragging the Appellant-Foundation into
unnecessary litigations. The Writ Petition filed by the
respondent before the High Court was one of such ill-
motivated petitions filed by her to abuse the process
of law, to hamper the development of Auroville and to
cause obstructions in the smooth functioning of the
Governing Board of the Foundation. Hence, the
Appeal is allowed with cost of Rs.50,000/- to be
deposited by the respondent before the Supreme
Court Legal Service Committee within two weeks from
today. The office to follow the compliance.
20. The Appeal stands allowed accordingly.
....….....…………………J.
[BELA M. TRIVEDI]
....…......…………..……….J.
[PRASANNA B. VARALE]
NEW DELHI;
th
17 MARCH, 2025
C.A. No.13651 of 2024 Page 30 of 30