1368 / 1424
1368
V.
This letter then, in and of itself, may constitute what is termed as an act
of defamation, and remains so to this day as it has not been substantiated
and cannot be substantiated.
VI.
Yet this act of defamation by one member of the Governing Board
appears to have been considered by all its other members, under the
chairmanship of Dr. Kireet Joshi, as sufficient evidence to take the
unprecedented step of direct intervention.
VII.
Since all the other members of the Governing Board are highly respected
individuals one may wonder how they could consent to this very dubious
process.
VIII.
Could one then assume that it is also our right to call attention to the
various cases of wastage that have been the direct responsibility of the
architect over the years?
Conclusion: The point here being that the means elected to ‘resolve’ a crucial
difference of approaches rich with a potential for real collective progress, may not
be, in effect and in spirit, the correct ones.
Submitted by Divakar”
Note: On the 2
nd
of August, 2003, four of us were served each a legal notice called
a “Caveat”: Arjun, John H, Walter and I each received by Registered Post the same
legal document containing the text of a Caveat filed in the Court of the Hon’ble
Principal Sub Judge at Tindivanam by the Secretary of the Auroville Foundation,
through its chosen Advocate, a Mr. P. Krishnamurthy, M.A., B.L.
It said that “The Caveator apprehend that the Expected Applicants may file a suit
and petition against the Caveator and get some interim orders. LET NOTHING BE
DONE WITHOUT NOTICE TO THE CAVEATOR in the proceedings. The Caveator
undertakes to serve the notice of this caveat on the Expected Applicants and file
proof of service before this Hon’ble Court…”
In short, the Chairman had expected and feared that we would take him to Court
for his recent actions, knowing full well that we did have grounds for such recourse.
Yet, unknown to him – and this made us to reflect with some amount of awe on the
individual destinies concerned -, we had not ever even considered such an option,
let alone discussed it; in fact, it never even crossed my own mind! We did lodge
articulate protests where we could, that is, to the known players of this game,
directly and as fairly as we could; but it would never have occurred to us to seek
redress in the ordinary courts of law. While the Chairman, on his part, had in fact a
long history of court cases, some of them still unresolved, since his leaving the
Ashram.
On the 4
th
of August, 2003, the Chairman wrote a long formal letter to the AV
council and Working Committee, in which he wielded both the carrot and the stick
with shrewdness, so as to ensure the tacit support of the majority in Auroville –
large funding for a wide range of activities and projects under the umbrella of
education in Auroville being the carrot dangling before so many people who had
been promised contracting, teaching, building, or documenting jobs. Eventually this
large funding was blocked at the Centre.
Here is his letter in full: