1978
Nirmal Singh’s rejoinder to Peter Heehs on the birthplace of Sri
Aurobindo. According to Peter Heehs, Sri Aurobindo was wrong about where he
was born.
12.02.1984
Appointment
of Manoj Das Gupta as Trustee of Sri Aurobindo Ashram Trust after the passing
away of Nolini Kanto Gupta. He was recommended as Trustee by Nolini Kanto
Gupta through a dubious note signed (or made to sign) in his last days and
left in the custody of Pranab Kumar Bhattacharya. We do not know why Nolini
did not give the note to Padmanabhan Counouma, who was then the Managing
Trustee of the Ashram, and why he did not recommend Manoj Das Gupta earlier through
a formal meeting of the Board of Trustees. Manoj Das Gupta’s policy of not
rocking the boat even when the boat is about to be wrecked, as in the controversy
over the Lives of Sri Aurobindo by Peter
Heehs, makes him undoubtedly the most vehemently criticised Trustee in the
history of the Ashram. He is also known to protect the guilty and punish the
victims or those who have raised the alarm.
22.06.1986
Jugal
Kishore Mukherjee’s letter of 22.06.1986 to the Ashram Trust exposing the
so-called research of Peter Heehs at the Ashram Archives.
04.06.1987
Jayantilal
Parekh’s letter in reply to Jugal Kishore Mukherjee’s letter of 22.06.1986. The reply is written and drafted by Peter
Heehs and Richard Hartz, but signed by Jayantilal Parekh.
14.06.1987
Jugal
Kishore Mukherjee’s reply to Jayantilal Parekh’s letter of 22.06.1986.
07.07.1987
Pranab Kumar Bhattacharya’s letter in reply to Jayantilal
Parekh’s letter of 04.06.1987 defending Peter Heehs. He raises suspicions
with regard to the activities of foreigners at the Ashram Archives.
1987
Peter Heehs wins third prize in writing on the history of the freedom
movement in India in a competition conducted by the Govt. of India He hardly
mentions, or rather practically dismisses Sri Aurobindo’s contribution to the
Freedom Movement despite having researched the same subject for years at the
Sri Aurobindo Ashram Archives. Asked why he did so, he answers he would not
have got the prize had he highlighted Sri Aurobindo’s role in the freedom
movement.
1989
Sri Aurobindo: A Brief Biography by Peter Heehs
published by Oxford University Press. Heehs takes this biography as a testing
ground to introduce distortions and misrepresentations of Sri Aurobindo’s
life to the disciples and devotees of Sri Aurobindo.
10.02.1991
The passing away of Padmanabhan Counouma, the Managing Trustee
of Sri Aurobindo Ashram. His unstinting devotion to the Mother combined with legal
acumen and a highly respected position in Pondicherry protects the Ashram as
long as he is there. The Ashram passes through a storm of difficulties in the
aftermath of the Mother’s passing away, which he quietly manages to overcome
without any fanfare. After his and Dyuman Patel’s passing away the Ashram begins
to have serious administrative problems and court cases against the Ashram
multiply tenfold.
19.08.1992
Passing away of Dyuman Patel, the last of the Trustees selected
by the Mother. Harikant Patel becomes Managing Trustee of the Ashram.
1993
Peter Heehs brings out The Bomb in Bengal: The Rise of
Revolutionary Terrorism in India, 1900-1910. In this book, according to
historian J.B.P. More, Heehs accuses nationalist historians “for being
uncritical and unduly commemorative about the revolutionary events related to
this period”.
24.10.1996
Formation of the Sri Aurobindo Ashram Inmates’ Association to
protect the interests of Ashram inmates.
04.01.1997
The Ashram Trust expels four inmates of the Ashram for forming
the Sri Aurobindo Ashram Inmates’ Association. The four inmates appeal for
the restoration of their basic amenities in the Pondicherry Court.
10.02.1997
Appointment of Dr. Dilip Datta as a Trustee of the Ashram. A
senior Ashramite remarked later that, with the appointment of Dr. Dilip Datta
as a Trustee, the Ashram lost a good doctor (?) and got a bad legal adviser.
It was under him that the number of cases against the Ashram multiplied
tenfold (160 in 2008). He naturally mixed his legal strategy with the threat
of medical negligence to all those who did not agree with him on Ashram
matters.
11.02.1997
Pondicherry Court restores the status of the four expelled
members as inmates of the Ashram. The Trust loses the case and has to restore
all basic amenities to the inmates, including food, shelter and work.
12.03.1997
Article in Outlook magazine
by A.S. Pannerselvan exposing the Ashram Trust’s administration.
26.08.1997
Alleged
accident (stove bursting) in the kitchen of the Lake Estate of the Ashram
resulting in the death of Ms. Kavita Mallick, who sustains fatal burn
injuries.
23.12.1997
Ms.
Meenakshi Mohanty, a young girl from Orissa working in the Ashram Press, commits
suicide.
1998
Peter Heehs submits his article “Genius, Mysticism, and Madness”
as part of the research report of Sri Aurobindo Ashram Trust to the Govt. of
India for seeking income tax exemptions under scientific research.. The
article shows similarities between Sri Aurobindo’s spiritual experiences and
psychotic experiences and hallucinations of
mentally disbalanced persons.
1998
Peter Heehs’s book Nationalism,
Terrorism, Communalism: Essays in Modern Indian History published by Oxford
University Press. Following the line of leftist historians, he calls Sri
Aurobindo a leader of terrorists.
1999
Cases filed against the Ashram Trust for the tampering of Savitri, Sri Aurobindo’s epic poem.
The chief editors of the new edition of Savitri
(1993) are Richard Hartz and Peter Heehs.
01.07.2002
Appointment of Prabhakar Pantulu (Batti) as Trustee of the
Ashram.
03.11.2002
Dakshinamourty, a Tamil devotee, files a Public Interest
Litigation against the Ashram Trust in Madras High Court.
25.02.2004
Ms.
Shobha Rani, an inmate at the Ashram, commits suicide because of alleged sexual
harassment and eve teasing in the Ashram Dining Room. In her suicide note,
she holds eight inmates responsible for the extreme step she has taken.
Nirmal Swain, the present Ashram lawyer and a close aide of the Trustees,
figures in this list of persons who are responsible for her death. The case
gets dismissed because of lack of witnesses from her side.
05.10.2004
The Chairperson of the National
Commission For Women, Dr. Poornima Advani and other officials of the NCW
conduct a meeting with the officials of the State Women's Commission,
Pondicherry, to discuss issues regarding eve teasing, safety of women and
problems faced by women while registering complaints with the Police. The
minutes of the said meeting are highlighted in a report titled "A
Situational Analysis of Women and Girls in Pondicherry" by Dr. Sarala
Gopalan of the NCW.
11.10.2004
Bail Order of Manoj Das Gupta in the Selvaraj Chettiar case
pertaining to the fraudulent sale of three properties in Pondicherry to the
Ashram Trust.
Sept 2007
A few
teachers of the Ashram School complain about the sexual exploitation of minor
girls by a physical education instructor. No action is taken on him. On the
contrary, severe action is taken on those who have complained.
15.03.2008
CNN-IBN
widely advertises their program titled "The Divine Trap" on the
Ashram and announces its broadcast for prime time at 9 pm on 15th
March 2008. The program was supposed to reveal the corrupt functioning of the
Ashram Trustees. On the day of the broadcast, the Trust intervenes and
manages to block the programme.
May 2008
Peter Heehs’s Lives of Sri
Aurobindo published by Columbia Press in the USA.
21.06.2008
As on this date a total of 160 cases had
been filed against the Ashram Trust across various courts, largely on account
of the actions/omissions of the Trustees.
August 2008
The controversy of the Lives
of Sri Aurobindo by Peter Heehs is
triggered by a review of it in Auroville
Today.
Sept 2008 onwards
Letters to the Ashram Trust from senior disciples and scholars of
Sri Aurobindo Ashram warning the Trust of Peter Heehs’s mischief in the Ashram
Archives. All are ignored by Manoj Das Gupta, the Managing Trustee.
13.09.2008
Objectionable Extracts of the Lives arranged by subject and circulated by email, creating a storm
and outrage among the disciples and admirers of Sri Aurobindo.
Sept 2008
Meeting in the School presided by Manoj Das Gupta in which
senior inmates of the Ashram are called. MDG defends Peter Heehs saying that
his intentions were good though the result was bad. He reads from a letter
written by Peter Heehs to him. Vijay Poddar and Matriprasad Satyamurthy are
appointed to look into the possibility of legal action to stop the book from
getting released in India by Penguin Publishers. Vijay Poddar rings up his
lawyers in Delhi and asks Matriprasad for the contract of the Ashram Trust
with Peter Heehs. Matriprasad keeps delaying the matter until Vijay Poddar
realises that the delay is deliberate and the Trust does not want to take any
action at all.
20.09.2008
Letter
of long time colleagues of Peter Heehs in the Sri Aurobindo Ashram Archives
to the Managing Trustee with regard to the blatant misuse of Archives
material by Peter Heehs.
27.09.2008
Peter Heehs’s corrected excerpts of the Lives of Sri Aurobindo put up on the SCIY forum.
Sept-Oct 2008
Manoj Das (the writer) has a
meeting with the Trustees (which Manoj Das Gupta does not attend) in order to
read out and explain 90 objectionable passages in the Lives. He tells them why it is necessary to urgently and publicly
dissociate the Ashram from the book and take immediate steps to withdraw the
book. The four Trustees agree and decide to remove Peter Heehs, Bob Zwicker
& Richard Hartz from the Archives. Next morning when Manoj Das Gupta
hears about the decision, he shouts in anger, “I will not accept this
decision!” He then prevails upon the other Trustees to withdraw their
unanimous decision. News of this comes as a most painful shock to the entire
Ashram community, plunging it in despair.
02.10.2008
Mass
petition signed first by Pranab Kumar Bhattacharya submitted by inmates of
the Ashram to the Trustees. More than four hundred people signed the
petition. Had not Pranab Kumar Bhattacharya
called it off after two days, the entire Ashram would have followed
suit.
05.10.2008
Manoj
Das Gupta writes to Pranab Kumar Bhattacharya that Peter has “crossed all
limits of decency” in his book on Sri Aurobindo.
08.10.2008
Internal Notice circulated by the Ashram Trust saying that the Ashram Trust “does not
approve and has nothing to do with the book entitled “Lives of Sri
Aurobindo”. The Trust removes Peter Heehs from the Archives and reconstitutes
an ad hoc and namesake editorial board of the Archives Dept.
10.10.2008
Proposal of Pranab Kumar Bhattacharya to take corrective measures with regard to the
book. This was put up on the Ashram Notice Board. PKB was the personal
attendant of the Divine Mother and head of the Ashram Physical Education
Dept. He joined the Ashram in 1945 and commanded immense respect from the
devotees and disciples of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother.
30.10.2008
Notice by Pranab Kumar Bhattacharya expelling Peter Heehs from the Physical
Education Dept. of the Ashram.
04.11.2008
Ex-students of the Ashram School move the Orissa High Court and
bring a Stay Order on the release of the Lives
of Sri Aurobindo by Peter Heehs by Penguin Publishers in India.
11.11.2008
Fax message of the Ashram Trustees saying that they have informed Peter Heehs
about their displeasure regarding some aspects of the book and have taken the
necessary disciplinary steps. They clarify that he was not founder of the
Ashram Archives as claimed by him in his book.
Nov 2008
Article written by Niranjan Naik on “Guru Ninda” for the
November issue of the Oriya monthly Navaprakash. 9700 copies of the article
are printed. On realising that it would expose the Ashram Trust for
supporting Peter Heehs, the manager of the Press scraps and shreds all the
copies.
22.01.2009
Sraddhalu Ranade dismissed from the Archives by the Ashram Trust
for having taken a stand against Peter Heehs.
09.04.2009
Govt. of Orissa issues a Gazette Notification banning the book.
25.07.2009
Pranab
Bhattacharya’s proposal to the Managing Trustee to take action on Peter Heehs
with regard to copyright violations.
05.08.2009
Pranab Kumar Bhattacharya’s Note to the Managing Trustee with Legal Opinion on how
to take action on Peter Heehs. This letter follows from the previous letter
of PKB to MDG dated 25.07.2009
31.08.2009
Manoj Das Gupta’s reply to Pranab Kumar Bhattacharya. He says, “If you feel that
some legal action is the need of the hour, then I am game for it.” And yet he
does nothing.
08.01.2010
Passing
away of Pranab Kumar Bhattacharya, attendant of the Mother and director of
the Physical Education Department of the Ashram.
May-July 2010
Kittu
Reddy (professor of History in the Ashram School), Ranganath Raghavan (former
Manager of the Ashram Press) & Sumita Khandpal (retired IAS officer and
alumnus of SAICE) meet Manoj Das Gupta with regard to the Peter Heehs issue
and the administration of the Ashram. They have a couple of meetings with
Manoj Das Gupta, which are followed by a correspondence with the Ashram
Trust.
02.05.2010
Molestation
of Mamata Satpathy by Mukesh, manager of New Guest House. The Trust protects
Mukesh and pretends to conduct an enquiry.
28.05.2010
Letter
written to the Managing Trustee by Kitttu Reddy, Ranganath Raghavan &
Sumita Kandpal asking him why no action has been taken on Peter Heehs and why
no public statement has been issued by the Trust on the derogatory content of
his book on Sri Aurobindo.
21.06.2010
Recommendation
letter furnished by the Trust to the Regional Registration Officer,
Pondicherry, for the extension of Peter Heehs’s visa by five years.
21.06.2010
Reply
of the Ashram Trust to Kittu Reddy, Ranganath Raghavan & Sumita Kandpal.
The Trust defends Peter Heehs and presents half a dozen articles profusely praising
him.
02.07.2010
Letter
of Kittu Reddy, Ranganath Raghavan & Sumita Kandpal to Manoj Das Gupta
raising the issue of Peter Heehs and various other cases of blatant
maladministration such as the Raghava Chettiar House case, New Guest House
diversion of funds, Mamata Satpathy molestation case, etc.
22.07.2010
Reply
from the Board of Trustees dismissing all the questions raised by Kittu
Reddy, Ranganath Raghavan & Sumita Kandpal and threatening to take legal
action on them.
July 2010
Manoj Das Gupta’s article “Some Reflections on the Agonising
Issue of a Book”. He criticises Peter Heehs, but criticises more the reaction
of those who have protested against it. He refers to this article as having
written it a few months back in a letter to the Governor of Pondicherry dated
24 September 2010.
23.08.2010
Scheme Suit against the Sri Aurobindo Ashram Trust filed by five
inmates and devotees in the Pondicherry District Court. The petitioners seek
the replacement of the Trustees because they have committed breach of trust
by defending Peter Heehs with regard to his denigrating biography of Sri
Aurobindo and by even giving a certificate of good conduct for the extension
of his visa in India.
23.09.2010
With great reluctance, the Ashram Trust puts up a notice in the
Ashram saying that it “does not approve and has nothing to do with the book
entitled the Lives of Sri Aurobindo written by Peter Heehs.” It keeps the
notice for only a few days on the Ashram Notice Board.
05.10.2010
Dr. R.Y. Deshpande, senior professor of Physics in the Higher
Course of the Ashram School and expert on Savitri,
expelled by Manoj Das Gupta on a flimsy excuse.
30.12.2010
Dismissal of Niranjan Naik as editor of Navaprakash, which he has been editing right from its inception
in 1970.
15.02.2011
Principal District Judge of Pondicherry grants leave to sue in
the Scheme Suit.
17.06.2011
Madras High Court grants leave to sue in the Scheme Suit.
01-07 January, 2012
Silent
Protest against the Ashram Trust organised by the inmates of the Ashram and other
devotees of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother on Rue Saint Gilles, behind the
Ashram main building and in front of the office of the Ashram Trust. A Press
conference is organised on 6 January, 2012.
20.01.2012
Ashram Trust issues show cause notices to Kittu Reddy & R.Y.
Deshpande for speaking in the Press conference of January 6, 2012.
27.01.2012
Show Cause notices served to Varun Pabrai and 5 others for
participating in the Silent Protest of 1-6 January, 2012. (Read also note
dated 19.04.2012.)
13.02.2012
Ashram
Trustees cancel Vijay Poddar’s talk on the book for fear of being exposed.
The talk was scheduled for 14.02.2012 at the Society Beach Office.
26-28 February,
2012
Second
Silent Protest organised by the inmates of the Ashram and devotees of Sri
Aurobindo on Rue Saint Gilles, behind the Ashram main building and in front
of the office of the Ashram Trust. On
the 27th devotees hand over petitions to all the Trustees. Dr. Dilip Datta first
refuses to take the petition, and then takes it, crumples and throws it in
the drain. He files an F.I.R. on the
devotees for preventing his access to the office of the Ashram Trust. The
devotees file a counter F.I.R. against Shoma Datta (Dilip Datta’s daughter) who
racially insults the Oriya devotees.
09.03.2012
Togo Mukherjee deprived of taking food in the Ashram Dining Room
by Manoj Das Gupta.
11.03.2012
Dr. Gayatri Satapathy, resident physician in the Ashram Nursing
Home from November 1999, resigns due to interference and harassment by Dr.
Dilip Datta. She continues to work in the Ashram Dispensary.
14.03.2012
Manoj Das Gupta stops Sudha Sinha’s Hindi classes.
04.04.2012
05.04.2012
Peter Heehs’s interview with General Bakshi on Times Now.
13.04.2012
Home Minister Chidambaram under political pressure
extends Peter Heehs’s visa by one year. He was supposed to leave India on
14.04.2012 at 2 a.m.
19.04.2012
Interim Injunction by the Puducherry Court restraining
the Ashram Trustees from taking disciplinary action against Kittu Reddy and
five others. The Trustees now won’t be able to
expel them, deprive them of food & shelter or remove them from their work
place.
25.04.2012
Sri
Aurobindo Society passes a resolution publicly condemning "The Lives of
Sri Aurobindo" by Peter Heehs. This is in response to the overwhelming
expression of outrage from hundreds of Branches and Centres all over India. The statement is published in the issue of
June 2012 of the All India Magazine.
11.05.2012
13.05.2012
Radhikaranjan
writes an article with the title “Om Namo Bhagavate” for the TLOSA website,
in which he criticises the Trustees for supporting Peter Heehs.Manoj
Das Gupta, Registrar of the Ashram School, stops his Sanskrit and Biology
classes. Radhikaranjan moves the Court in Pondicherry to get back his classes
and even wins in the Court, but to no avail. The Registrar takes advantage of
legal procedures to indefinitely delay the restoration of his classes. (Read
note dated 05.12.2012)
18.05.2012
A
strong plea was made by Bhartruhari Mahtab (BJD MP) in the Lok Sabha today
for immediately cancelling the visa to controversial US historian Peter Heehs.
25.05.2012
A
group of 68 sitting Members of Parliament of India write to the Ashram Trust demanding
written answers to serious allegations of corruption and breach of trust
raised by disciples and devotees of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother all over
India and abroad. The letter is forwarded by Ex-MP Dr. Kartikeshwar Patra to
the Ashram Trust on 25 May, 2012.
10.06.2012
Second Additional District Judge of Pondicherry grants leave to
sue for a second time in the Scheme Suit.
21.07.2012
Kumud Patel, personal assistant of
the Mother and in-charge of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother’s rooms passes away.
Her loss is deeply felt by all those who have protested against the Trustees
in the Peter Heehs issue.
10.08.2012
The SSP of Puducherry refuses to give
permission to the Inmates to stage a dharna on the apprehension that there
might be a breach of peace.
13.08.2012
The District Collector of Puducherry receives a letter from
local MLA Thiru Ashok Anand citing various allegations against the Trustees
of the Ashram ranging from the denial of basic fundamental rights of the
Inmates to financial corruption and breach of trust. The MLA prays for an
immediate and independent probe into the functioning of the Trust. On the
same day a large group of Devotees, Disciples and Inmates meet the District
Collector with the objective of voicing their grievances against the
Trustees.
05.09.2012
The Deputy Collector (Revenue) North, Puducherry summons the
Trustees to appear before him on 07.09.2012 at 04:00 pm for an enquiry along
with relevant documents. The scope of the proposed enquiry is on the
following issues:
1. Denial of fundamental rights of the inmates of Sri Aurobindo
Ashram.
2. Absence of a democratic mechanism for the election of
Trustees.
3. Lack of transparency and accountability by the Trustees.
4. Financial mismanagement of Trust Funds by the Trustees
5. Denial of food, work and medical facilities to inmates who
have spoken against the Trustees.
6. Denial of security to women inmates who have spoken out
against sexual harassment and victimization.
7. Illegal sale and lease of valuable Ashram properties by
Trustees for personal gain.
8. Other related matters.
07.09.2012
Death of Shanti Sinha due to gross medical negligence by the
Ashram Medical Service headed by Dr. Dilip Datta.
07.09.2012
Ashram Trustees comply with the
summons of the Deputy Collector and appear before him.
17.09.2012
Pondicherry District Collector puts up a public Notice of
Enquiry into the allegations against the Ashram Trust. Interested Ashramites
can disclose any information on the allegations levied against the Trustees.
19.09.2012
The Trustees of the Ashram submit a
written reply to the Deputy Collector denying the allegations levelled
against them in the Notice dated 05.09.2012.
20.09.2012
The Trustees of the Ashram Trust send
a letter to the Deputy Collector wherein they express their reservations on
affixing the Notice dated 17.09.2012. The Trustees however vide the said
letter assure the Deputy Collector of their "full co-operation to the
enquiry".
21.09.2012
Ashramites submit a detailed report to the Deputy Collector of
Pondicherry, containing information on the illegalities committed by the
Ashram Trust. The report is more than 1800 pages long with 10 Annexures,
including two books and one DVD Disk containing a sting operation undertaken
by the CNN-IBN into the affairs of the Ashram Trust.
01.10.2012
The
Deputy Collector sends a letter to the Trustees stating that the Notice dated
17.09.2012 has not been affixed on the notice board of the Ashram as per his
directions. Therefore a revised constructive Notice with an extended date
would be affixed at important places of the Ashram. The Trustees are directed
to extend necessary co-operation to the Deputy Tahsildar during his visit to
the Ashram for this purpose. The Trustees are also warned that non-compliance
of these directions would be viewed seriously.
01.10.2012
Notice dated 01.10.2012 extends the
date for all interested Ashramites to approach the Deputy Collector with
information relevant to the inquiry by 15.10.2012.
03-10 Oct 2012
Inmates
of the Ashram make written complaints to the Deputy Collector against the
Trustees of the Ashram on issues pertaining to sexual abuse of women inmates
and children, human rights violation, denial of medical facilities, and
corruption and financial mismanagement in the Ashram. 40 complaints are given
to the Deputy Collector, out of which 9 complaints are returned because of
the stay order in Madras High Court.
05.10.2012
The
Ashram Trust files Writ Petition 27099 of 2012 against the District Collector
of Puducherry in the Madras High Court and gets a stay order on the Enquiry.
13.10.2012
Vishnu
Lalit’s Sanskrit classes discontinued by Manoj Das Gupta because he has been
the main complainant in the Collector’s Enquiry.
18.10.2012
Laxmidhar
Samantray passes away.
09.11.2012
Ms.
Krishna Tirath, the Minister of State, Ministry of Women and Child
Development, issues a letter to the Chief Minister, Government of
Pondicherry, saying that "efforts need to be made to ensure that the
Trustees do not abuse their positions in any way to create an atmosphere of
fear amongst the Inmates which would obviate a fair inquiry, which I would
request you to expedite".
Letter of Ms Krishna Tirath
04.12.2012
The
Government of Puducherry files a Counter Affidavit in W.P. No. 27099 of 2012 justifying
the need for conducting an enquiry into the affairs of the Ashram.
05.12.2012
Court verdict in favour of Radhikaranjan Das restraining the Ashram Trustees from stopping his classes in the
Ashram School. Manoj Das Gupta, Managing Trustee cum Registrar of the Ashram
School blatantly disobeys the court order, but creates a false impression of
having complied with it. Radhikaranjan is given a note telling him to fix his
classes with the Higher Course students while he prevents them at the same
time to attend his classes.
14.12.2012
Togo
Mukherjee, grandson of Bagha Jotin, passes away.
25.01.2013
Inmates
of the Ashram file intervention petition M.P. No.2/2012 during the pendency
of Writ Petition 27099/2012 in Madras High Court.
15.03.2013
TLOSA website exposes the Dattagate scandal regarding the land
deal of Dilip Datta’s son with Michele Mercier, who gets prime accommodation from
the Ashram for selling her house to Dilip Datta’s son at a throw away price.
02.04.2013
Madras High Court grants leave to sue for the second time in the
Scheme Suit.
May 2013
Abhipsa Nagda appointed as Trustee in the place of Albert Patel.
06.06.2013
Trustees send Ashram lawyer with Police to arrest Abala Mohanty
in the Dining Room for allegedly insulting Manoj Das Gupta. Abala refuses to
go with them. The same thing happens on the 8th.
13.07.2013
Posters against the Ashram Trust all over Pondicherry town.
14.07.2013
Bring the Sri Aurobindo Ashram under the purview of the R.T.I.
Act, says ANRC MLA.
18.07.2013
Posters against the Ashram Trust all over Pondicherry town.
26.07.2013
Puducherry Assembly extensively debates on the corrupt practices
of the Ashram Trustees. Thereafter, the Chief Minister of Puducherry issues a
statement that he is seriously considering the appointment of a Government
Administrator for the Ashram. Various news reports are published highlighting
the proceedings of the Puducherry Assembly.
Decision on government nominee for Aurobindo Ashram soon, says Rangasamy - The Hindu (27 July, 2013)
10.08.2013
Tehelka magazine publishes an Article titled
"Scabs Beneath the Serenity", which vividly describes the dismal
state of affairs in Sri Aurobindo Ashram.
13.08.2013
The Madras High Court appoints Justice P.R. Raman, a former
Judge of the High Court of Kerala, to head an inquiry into the affairs of the
Ashram.
26.08.2013
Posters against Manoj Das Gupta all over the town.
15.09.2013
Shanti Mishra, impleader in the Writ
Petition filed in the Madras High Court (Enquiry Case against the Ashram
Trust), complains of intimidation by a henchman of the Trustees, who tells
her to withdraw her name from it.
17.09.2013
RAJ TV Programme in Tamil titled
“KOPPIUM” on sex-scandals in the Ashram.
27.09.2013
Enquiry proceedings conducted by Justice P.R. Raman at Ananda
Inn, Pondicherry. Several Inmates and non-Inmates participate in the
proceedings.
29.09.2013
Justice P.R. Raman submits a memo saying that he cannot continue
as Enquiry Officer due to medical reasons. Also, subsequent to his
appointment as Enquiry Officer, he has been designated as a Senior Advocate
by the Supreme Court of India and in this regard was "expecting to move
out soon".
11.10.2013
Madras High Court appoints Justice T.L. Vishwanatha Iyer, former
Judge, High Court of Kerala, as Enquiry Officer in place of Mr. Justice P.R.
Raman.
23.10.2013
Enquirer Officer, T.L. Vishwanatha Iyer, conducts a meeting with
the inmates and authorities of the Ashram in the conference hall of the
Pondicherry Secretariat.
26.10.2013
19.11.2013
79 complaints of Inmates personally delivered to Justice Vishwanatha
Iyer. Copies of complaints posted to Trustees and other accused.
11.12.2013
Ashram Trust replies to the complaints against them.
12.01.2014
Justice Vishwanath Iyer suddenly passes away. Enquiry
proceedings come to a halt and the atmosphere in the Ashram further deteriorates.
20.02.2014
Dr. Gayatri resigns from the Ashram Dispensary due to severe
harassment by Dr. Dilip Datta.
March-April 2014
Deliberate medical negligence of Vishnu Lalit in the Ashram
Nursing Home because he was the main complainant in the Collector’s Enquiry.
04.08.2014
Writ Petition filed by Gayatri Satapathy & Others asking for
an Enquiry into various allegations against the Ashram Trust is admitted in
the Supreme Court of India. The Union Govt. of India and the Pondicherry
Govt. have been made parties in the case. Both file affidavits favouring the Enquiry.
16.09.2014
RSS journal ORGANISER indicts the Ashram Trustees for being in
league with Peter Heehs in the defamation of Sri Aurobindo.
28.10.2014
Manoj Das in the news in connection with the Seashore Chitfund
Scam in Orissa.
18.12.2014
Five sisters & parents attempt to commit suicide after being
evicted from their Ashram residence. Two sisters and mother die, the others found
in a traumatic condition. Violent protests against the Ashram Trust. A total
bandh observed on the 20th supported by all political parties.
13.08.2015
25.08.2015
05.01.2016
Supreme Court dismisses the Scheme Suit, overturning the High
Court and Pondicherry court orders.
2016
Enquiry Case still pending in the Supreme Court of India.
|
17 Oct 2016
Timeline of the Controversy
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