Trustees Prejudiced Stand

After facing about 2 months of harassment, after giving written complaints to Mr. Bhaktavachalam and Mr. Uday Bhaskar (trustees’ lawyers and office bearers of Bar Association, Pondicherry) and approaching the Ashram trustees through them, today we were finally constrained to personally take our complaints to the trustees during their Trust Board meeting and voice our grievance.

All the five trustees of Ashram viz. Manoj Das Gutpa, Dilip Datta, Albert Patel @ Avinash, Prabhakar Rupanagunta @ Batti and Veda Prakash Johar, the advisory members viz. Chirta Sen, Vishweshwar Dundur, along with Matriparasad, Purushottam Iyengar, were present during our meeting with the Trust Board of Ashram.

At first the trustees did not want to hear us out because of the various already pending litigations between us. They even asked us to move the court of law instead of approaching them. They did not wish to see the pornographic chits received by us.  The only person who seemed inclined to listen to us was Veda Prakash Johar. Perhaps he realized what a mistake he had made by not coming forward to help Jayashree when she was assaulted.

The only woman there, Chitra Sen, exclaimed that if she saw these chits it would affect her modesty, therefore she desisted. Being a 70+ old lady when she felt threatened by merely looking at the chits, imagine our condition, and we replied her to this effect.

Manoj Das Gupta, Dilip Datta and Matriprasad observed that it was a work of an artist. (you can judge for yourself, chits are attached). This remark was aimed at Arunashri who is an artist and who was the first one to receive these pornographic cartoons. Arunashri told them unequivocally that if it was the work of an artist then all present should frame these works of art and put them in their drawing room in appreciation. Since the trustees found these drawings to be so beautiful we even suggested that these pornographic chits should be framed and put in prominent places of the Ashram for public viewing.

Manoj Das Gupta and Dilip Datta even commented that these men were sadhaks and could not do such things. Are we to take it to mean that we are not sadhaks? In fact, if my memory serves me right, Manoj Das Gupta is a known womanizer who maintains and entertains a harem full of women, his queen being Manjushri Chatterjee who attempted suicide when he tried to leave her. He cannot see a beautiful woman and talk to her without touching her. His well-known spicy exploits are legendary. When he is the one setting the trend for the male-inmates of Ashram, should one really not laugh at his blatant partiality towards his henchmen?

In fact as 22.07.2004 when Nivedita received the first pornographic chit carrying the initials G+N where Girish expressed his desire for her, she went to meet Manoj Das at about10.30 pm. (Padmashri Awardee inmate, ex-trustee of Ashram Trust, present Trustee of Ashram Udyog Trust, known Indian writer). He outright told her that she should not expect either the trustees or him to help her since she has filed cases against the trustees.

There is still Justice in Judiciary

The acceptance of the suit O.S. No.668/2002 is challenged by the trustees. As per them my legal remedy lies only before the Madras High Court. I manage to get orders to the effect that I can challenge Mr. Menon’s impugned undated report at Pondicherry.

Meanwhile C.S. Narasimhan, trustees’ lawyer, gives oral undertaking before the court that food and shelter for me will not be disturbed. Yet lo and behold! I am denied food at Ashram Dining Room.

On 22.12.2002 I go for breakfast and I am denied food by Prafulla Kumari @ Pappu, Dining Room in-charge. My plate of food is snatched from me and in no uncertain terms I am told to leave. Luckily for me, or so I think, I see Mr. Narasimhan eating at Dining Room, which is his regular practice. I approach him and ask him to intervene to prevent violation of his undertaking. He shouts at me and asks me to approach the court. The beauty of the whole drama is that since Mr. Narasimhan gave an oral undertaking and since his clients, namely the trustees, are totally unethical, Mr. Narasimhan has also chosen to become unethical. So when the case comes before the Hon’ble Judge he denies having ever given such an undertaking. Amazing!

Anyhow after a thorough enquiry I am at last given final order of status quo on 31.12.2002. Everything, except the ‘Prosperity’ is restored to me. I am deeply grateful and wish to thank Mrs. Rajalakshmi, the Hon’ble Judge of the I ADM, Pondicherry, who upheld justice in spite of crushing pressure to the contrary.

Suresh Chandra De (retd. IPS) Comes to his senses – Thank God

After still more vague Order dated 29.10.2001 passed by Mr. Justice P.D. Dinakaran in C.R.P. No. 2230/2001 & No. 2534/2001 in O.S.No.253/2001, trustees proceeded to conduct an enquiry against my four elder sisters while O.S. No.253/2001 was still pending. The trustees appointed one Mr. Suresh Chandra De, a retired police officer who had settled in Pondicherry, as the enquiry officer.

Suresh De, without going into the facts and circumstances of the case, issued my four elder sisters notice of enquiry. We issued a Legal Notice to Suresh De against this enquiry but he did not desist. We were constrained to file an interim petition in O.S. No.253/2001 against the trustees and Suresh De, for directing them to stop this enquiry.

The trustees rushed to the Madras High Court and filed a contempt petition. Trustees issued us personal notice informing us to be present when the matter would be heard by Mr. Justice P.D. Dinakaran. We appeared on 27.11.2002 and Matriprasad was also present in the court hall. Justice Dinakaran loudly asked Matriprasad from his high seat demanding to know why we ladies had been called since he had not issued any notice of contempt. Matriprasad had no reply.

Thereafter Mr. Justice Dinakaran orally directed Matriprasad that matters should be settled out of court by the trustees. A series of attempts for reconciliations were made but since the trustees repeatedly denied having caused us harassment and victimization, all the attempts failed. 

Good sense has prevailed at last as Mr. Suresh Chandra De desists from conducting any enquiry and we also did not press our interim petition against him in good faith.

Today Justice P.D. Dinakaran has dismissed the Contempt Petition filed by the trustees and no contempt was recorded against my four elder sisters.

Illegal Service of Notice

I filed O.S. No.668/2002 on 14.11.2002 challenging Mr. N.P.K. Menon’s impugned undated report. And today I can say that my apprehensions have proved right.

Together with O.S. No.668/2002 I filed an interim petition in I.A. No.2937/2002 for interim injunction to restrain the trustees from taking any action based on the perverse report of Mr. Menon. Injunction has been granted and status quo has been directed as an inmate of the Ashram.

But the trustees have to act in their highhanded manner to maintain their un-slackened track record of harassment. So Matriprasad and Nirmal Swain got hold of two probationers and pasted a backdated show cause notice on my door at Ambabhiskhu House, knowing fully well that O.S. No.668/2002 has been filed and exparte interim injunction of status quo has been granted through I.A. No.2937/2002. 

This was done simply to intimidate and harass me and humiliate my family.

Constitution of Civil Suit in O.S. No.668/2002

A third enquiry (by the trustees’ count) was constituted for the same alleged misconduct leveled against me by the trustees – 

1. “in camera enquiry” (no documents as yet produced to show its proceedings)
2. Mr. K. Natarajan’s enquiry having Vijay Poddar as presenting officer (report not furnished though concluded)
3. Mr. Menon’s enquiry illegally initiated by Madras High Court because of trustees’ deliberate misrepresentation, leniency shown due to spiritual institution, and …sous-entendu.

All the three enquiries found me to be guilty though no evidence was produced. In fact Mr. Menon went to the extent to state that it did not matter who made me pregnant without first ascertaining the fact whether I was pregnant. As per him I could have been made pregnant by Manoj Das Gupta himself if I so chose to claim.

And even better was the hilarious conclusion which Mr. Menon came to that having become pregnant in the end of year 2000 (implying November or December 2000) I was found to be 6-7 months pregnant by 10.01.2001 (implying within 2-3 months). As per Mr. Menon’s conclusion I have achieved a medical miracle!

It is also interesting to note that Matriprasad was the presenting officer for the trustees since Vijay Poddar, Sri Aurobindo Society, did not wish to be dragged into their nasty web at the cost of his reputation for a second time.

Mr. Menon submitted to my lawyer at Madras/Chennai a copy of the perverse undated report. On 08.11.2002 I collected this perverse report. Knowing fully well the modus operandi of the trustees, before they could take action based on the impugned report and expel me for a third time (by trustees’ count) I challenged the same today by filing O.S. No.668/2002 before the Hon’ble I Additional District Munsif at Pondicherry. 

Madras High Court Shows Leniency – Miscarriage of Justice

The trustees categorically maintained in all their correspondence and pleadings filed in O.S. No.215/2001 that only after conducting an “in camera enquiry” Hemlata was sought to be expelled from the Ashram. The trustees however have failed to produce any documentary evidence of this alleged enquiry proceedings till date.

In fact, in all their correspondences and pleadings relating to and filed in O.S. No.215/2001, the trustees have subtly and cunningly altered their concocted story to make it more and more plausible. Only hearsay and alleged confessions have been taken recourse to for building up their defamatory concoction.

To cover up their lapse the trustees decided to illegally constitute a second enquiry by appointing one Mr. K. Natarajan, retired district Judge, with Vijay Poddar of Sri Aurobindo Society as the presenting officer. I was issued with notice for appearance and I refused to participate since O.S. No.215/2001 was pending and since the trustees had vehemently claimed that an “in camera enquiry” had been conducted. I challenged the constitution of this enquiry in O.S. No.215/2001 through an interim petition in I.A. No.2672/2001 and the Hon’ble Court directed the trustees to continue with the enquiry proceedings.

But the self-proclaimed incarnates of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother, namely the trustees, are a law unto themselves, who obey and give a damn for nobody but themselves and their self-interests. So Mr. Natarajan and Mr. Vijay Poddar were told to proceed with the enquiry. It was completed and even a report finding me guilty, so I am told, had been produced. But I have not been furnished with a copy of this enquiry’s report.

Now the trustees did not like to be told that they cannot conduct a second enquiry parallel. So they approached the Hon’ble Madras High Court. Mr. Justice R. Balasubramanium, entertained C.R.P. No.787/2002, filed by the trustees. Mr. Sri Ram Panchu (senior lawyer) and Mr. C.A. Diwakar, trustees’ lawyers misrepresented before the High Court that the trustees had only conducted an “informal enquiry” and being a spiritual institution and ignorant about the ways of the world, the trustees inadvertently made a mistake. Wrongly gaining the sympathy of the High Court and also through deliberate misrepresentation, the court showed leniency and allowed them to conduct an enquiry (third on trustees count) by appointing Mr. N.P.K. Menon, a retired District Judge. The trustees were also directed to pay an initial sum of Rs.15,000/- to Mr. Menon. How much will really be paid is anyone’s guess…

The miscarriage of justice occurred when Justice Balasubramaniam summarily terminated my suit at Pondicherry, in O.S. No.215/2001, without even going into the merits of the case and conducting a trial.

History in the Making - Five Accused-Trustees Appear Before JM I, Pondicherry

Such a sight as was never seen before happened on the fateful day of 05.11.2001. In the criminal case filed by Hemlata in S.T.R. No.864/2001, the accused trustees and other accused inmates were compelled to appear before the Judicial Magistrate I at Pondicherry. Here is what happened on that day.

Five accused trustees – Harikant Patel, Veda Prakash Johar, Dilip Datta, Manoj Das Gupta and Albert Patel @ Avinash – were represented by a hoard of lawyers. The three accused inmates – Krishna Belliappa, Manjunath and Satyanarayanamurthy – were represented by another set of lawyers.

On 05.11.2001 Harikant Patel and Veda Prakash Johar, for the sake of gaining court’s sympathy, were brought by five inmates each in wheelchair. One of the chair-bearers was Lalit Varma of Aurodhan Art Gallery, who equals four men in size, accompanied Veda Prakash Johar, his uncle. The trustees were accompanied by chosen henchmen viz. Matriprasad, Prushottam Iyyengar, Prafulla Patel, Saumya Bableshwar, Nirmal Chandra Swain, to name a few. So, there were about 23-25 inmates/henchmen of the trustees present on this auspicious day of hearing. Now add to this another 10-15 lawyers, clerks and well-wishers, all serving the trustees and their henchmen. So about 40-45 people were present on the accused trustees’ side.

On my side my lawyer, Mr. Cyril Vincent, Jayashree and myself were present.

The criminal case was generally called at the end to decrease humiliation caused to the trustees. This day was no exception. Before the case was called the court had been emptied to accommodate this huge group. So imagine the scene when we all appeared! Trustees and their coterie of about 40-45 people on one side, only three people - Mr. Cyril Vincent, Jayashree and myself – on the other side. Since the court hall was small it was a fascinating sight.

When the proceedings began C.S. Narasimhan opened his statement by saying this girl (indicating me) is harassing and intimidating us (pointing to the trustees). Mr. Vincent simply shrugged his shoulder and the judge burst out laughing. Mr. Narasimhan went red in the face and abstained from making such blunt allegations. But the hilarity of the situation totally escaped the trustees! 

Victimization Due to Criminal Case

Notices were issued to the accused trustees and the three accused inmates in the defamation case filed by Hemlata in S.T.R. No.864/2001 at Pondicherry. The trustees were simply furious becoming vindictive and revengeful. My sisters and even my parents were not spared. Some highlights of harassment. 

1. Arunashri taught painting classes for adults. Her classes were stopped by Ashok Acharya acting on the instructions of Shobha Mitra.
2. Arunashri’s library facility at Ashram School was stopped through Asmita Shah (maiden name) by Manoj Das Gupta, the Registrar of Ashram School and the Managing Trustee of Ashram.
3. Parents’ work which they offered voluntarily at the Ashram was stopped.
4. Parents’ food which they partook on payment basis from Ashram Dining Room was stopped.
5. Parents were repeatedly threatened by henchmen of the trustees to withdraw the criminal case if they wanted to live in peace at Pondicherry.

Hemlata Files Criminal Case For Defamation

Trustees Letter dated 22.03.2001 to Hemlata read ‘Strictly Personal and Confidential’ but no confidentiality had been maintained by them. The trustees had widely circulated this defamatory letter to inmates, locals, police and even made open representation in the court without producing any evidence for my alleged pregnancy. So after issuing Legal Notices to the trustees and one Krishna Belliappa who was supposed to have made me pregnant, as claimed by the trustees, on 03.04.2001, to safeguard our interests, I was constrained to file a defamation case against the Ashram trustees viz. Harikant Patel, Veda Prakash Johar, Dilip Datta, Manoj Das Gupta and Albert Patel @ Avinash together with three inmates viz. Krishna Belliappa, Manjunath, Satyanarayanamurthy.

Even before notice could reach the accused persons, the trustees had come to know about my criminal case and they proceeded to harass and victimize my other sisters. My four elder sisters were issued a malafide show cause notice for an incident which never occurred accusing them of ‘misbehavior and defiance’. This notice contained the punishment without having first ascertained the veracity of the alleged incident.

Immediately after issuing this malafide notice Nivedita’s work was illegally stopped by Chitra Sen at Tresor Nursing Home and no reason was given. Seeing the trustees highhandedness my four elder sisters filed a civil suit challenging the show cause notice back-dated to 02.04.2001 in O.S. No.253/2001 before the Hon’ble I Additional District Munsif at Pondicherry on 09.04.2001, seeking to restrain the trustees from their unjustified illegal actions.

Interestingly on 07.04.2001, the day Nivedita’s work was illegally terminated, trustees issued a reply notice to the legal notice issued by me for causing defamation, based on some undisclosed medical records of Hemlata available at the Tresor Nursing Home. Thereafter the contents of this notice were presented as counter in the interim injunction application filed in I.A. No.814/2001 in O.S. No.215/2001.

The story of allegation of misconduct by Hemlata was subtly changed from trustees’ defamatory letter dated 22.03.2001 to their reply notice dated 07.04.2001 and their counter filed in I.A. No.814/2001. The subtleties made all the difference and clearly indicated that the whole bunch of allegations was a concocted affair by the trustees, hand-in-glove with Chitra Sen, to deny and deprive us justice for Jayashree’s assault.

Civil Suit in O.S. No.215/2001

On 21.03.2001 Gangaram issued to me a chit as the Deputy Director of Physical Education Department of Ashram (P.E.D.) stopping all my sports activities at P.E.D. premises. The chit simply stated that my name had been removed from ‘Prosperity List’ of the Ashram. ‘Prosperity List’ is a list of all the inmates who are being taken care of in every way by the Ashram and are completely dependent on the Ashram for their survival, therefore this chit was in effect an illegal order of expulsion. So, on 23.03.2001, based on this chit I filed a civil suit for permanent injunction on 23.03.2001 in the morning in O.S. No.215/2001 before the Hon’ble I Additional Munsif at Pondicherry.

Later in the day around 4 pm I received a defamatory letter through registered post (RPAD) dated 22.03.2001 from the trustees making wildly false allegations against my character. This letter falsely accused me of being 6-7 months pregnant through one Krishna Belliappa and which I illegally terminated.

Even though this letter read ‘Strictly Personal and Confidential’ it had been widely circulated by the trustees through their henchmen.

1. On 23.03.2001 morning, even before I received this letter, Manjunath was flaunting it on my face when we were denied breakfast.
2. On 23.03.2001, in the morning when I went to give my complaint to the police Mr. Anand Mohan asked me about veracity of this letter. In fact he mistook Jayashree to be me.
3. Later on 24.03.2001 when Manjunath was called to the police station there also he showed to the police this letter.
4. This defamatory letter was so widely circulated that even other ashramites and locals came up to me to ask me about this letter.

This mischief was played out by the trustees in order to discredit us thereby suppressing the incident of Jayashree’s assault.

On 28.03.2001 trustees entered appearance through one C.S. Narasimham, whose son had been a student of Ashram School. C.S. Narasimham represented the contents of the letter dated 22.03.2001 and the Hon’ble Judge Mr. Nallathamby was so shocked that he shouted from his seat at C.S. Narasimhan. He firmly told Mr. Narasimhan to produce evidence before making allegations of such serious nature. Mr. Narasimhan took time to file trustees counter and left shamefaced from the court.

On 30.03.2001 trustees gave an undertaking that Hemlata’s food and shelter will not be disturbed but they failed to file their counter and even to produce any evidence to support their false allegations.