Supreme Court sets aside NGT order against Art of Living over Yamuna floodplain damage, orders refund of ₹5 crore compensation

The Supreme Court on Saturday set aside a 2017 order of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) which had held the Art of Living Foundation responsible for damage to the Yamuna floodplains during its 2016 World Culture Festival [Vyakti Vikas Kendra India v Manoj Misra (dead) & Ors.]..A Bench of Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice NK Singh held that the NGT had failed to establish a causal link between the festival and the alleged environmental degradation. The Court directed the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) to refund the ₹5 crore deposited by the organisation as environmental compensation..The order was passed on an appeal filed by Vyakti Vikas Kendra India (VVKI), the Indian organisation associated with the Art of Living Foundation, founded by spiritual leader Sri Sri Ravi Shankar.The Art of Living Foundation is the broader international organisation, while VVKI is a separate Indian entity associated with it.The Court found that there was sufficient material to show that the event site was already in a poor condition before it was handed over to VVKI."There is ample material on record to show that the event site was already in a dilapidated condition prior to its handing over to the appellant (VVKI)," noted the Court..The ₹5 crore had been deposited pursuant to an interim order passed by the NGT in March 2016, shortly before the three-day festival was scheduled to begin. The NGT had permitted the event to proceed while directing the Foundation to deposit the amount as environmental compensation. It had also directed that the amount would be adjusted against the compensation ultimately determined after an assessment of the environmental damage.The World Culture Festival was held from March 11 to 13, 2016, on around 25 hectares of the Yamuna floodplain in Delhi.The event attracted significant environmental concerns over the construction of roads, ramps and other structures and alleged alteration of the floodplain's topography and natural flow. The NGT had also criticised the DDA and Delhi Pollution Control Committee for lapses in granting permissions and imposed separate amounts on them..In its final judgment of December 2017, the NGT held the Art of Living Foundation responsible for damage to the Yamuna floodplains based on the findings of an expert committee. It did not impose any additional compensation but directed that the ₹5 crore already deposited by the Foundation be used by the DDA for restoration of the floodplains..The Art of Living Foundation challenged these findings before the Supreme Court.It argued that the site was already damaged before the event and that the expert reports did not establish that the organisation had caused any additional environmental damage..The Court today agreed that the NGT had relied too heavily on an expert committee's report about preparatory work at the site without considering evidence of its pre-existing damaged condition."We are afraid, the Tribunal got swayed by the expert committee’s report that massive preparatory work is going on at the site and went on to conclude that by undertaking such work, the appellant has severely damaged the floodplain. This conclusion was reached by the Tribunal without examining the contemporaneous evidence regarding pre-existing damaged condition of the floodplain and conspicuous failure of the authorities to implement its earlier judgment in the Yamuna matter," observed the Court.The Court also held that the polluter pays principle could not be applied without establishing a causal link between the alleged polluter's activities and the environmental degradation.It further criticised the NGT for effectively turning the proceedings into an exercise for rehabilitation and development of the floodplain, rather than determining the damage attributable to VVKI."The Tribunal completely altered the character of the dispute before itself and converted it into a proceeding for fresh development of the Yamuna floodplain, and in doing so, it burdened the appellant to bear the expenses of such development activity. Effectively, the Tribunal burdened the appellant with the task of developing something that it never destroyed," said the Court.Additionally, the Court also criticised the DDA for permitting the event on an active floodplain."We feel that the DDA was bound to act in a manner that the trust reposed in it, as the agency responsible for the rehabilitation and ecological maintenance of the Yamuna floodplain, is not shaken in any manner. Further, DDA was bound to take all preventive steps and precautions to avoid any further deterioration of the active floodplain. Evidently, the authority failed to act in accordance with its duties towards the public at large," said the Court..The Court accordingly set aside the NGT judgment and directed DDA to refund the ₹5 crore to VVKI within four weeks. It also clarified that DDA must continue with the rehabilitation of the Yamuna floodplains under existing plans and directions..Senior Advocate Nikhil M Sakhardande along with advocates Nipun Katyal, Shubhra Swami and Manan Sharma appeared for the Art of Living Foundation..[Read Judgment]