Standing orders are a common part of the life of military personnel. Wherever they get posted, there are standing orders which they are supposed to follow, and failing to do so may invite disciplinary action. While these might be necessary in military service because every station commander is to ensure battle readiness of his personnel and equipment within hours of receiving the order from the higher-ups, it is astounding for civilian bureaucrats to issue "standing orders" to residents of a developing town who are engaged in activities common to civilised human life and who are not employees of the government.
Yet, a governing board consisting mostly of retired or serving senior government officers and others who did not seem to have "rendered valuable service" to the town, which is a prior requirement to be appointed as a member of the board, did just that. And to the least probable collectivity of people, Auroville, which is a Universal Town and City of Dawn according to its founder, The Mother. Babudom is issuing orders for a project in which it has no expertise: developing human unity based on spiritual oneness and transformation of life by the new consciousness.
Therefore it comes as a sign of awakening, though a delayed one, that an Indian resident of Auroville has petitioned the Madras High Court to quash the Auroville Foundation (Residence Criteria) Standing Order, 2024. Swarna Lata, the petitioner, and her husband, Prashant Madhukar Hedao, who is one of the current members of the Working Committee of the Residents Assembly of Auroville (RA WCom), have been registered residents of Auroville since 2005. The grounds on which the prayer arises are not known yet, but the details should become available in due course.
Justice P.T. Asha, on hearing the petition on 13th February 2026, has granted a stay of the Auroville Foundation (Residence Criteria) Standing Order, 2024, till the next hearing scheduled on 13th March 2026.
Justice P.T. Asha is the daughter of an Indian Army soldier. She graduated from the Madras Law College in 1988 and was awarded the Outstanding Woman Lawyer award by the Women Lawyer's Association during the Sesquicentennial Celebrations of the High Court of Madras in 2012.