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

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 allowed the Foundation’s appeal and directed the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) to refund the ₹5 crore environmental compensation deposited by the Foundation.

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.

A detailed judgment is awaited.

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 the Yamuna floodplains in Delhi.

The event had 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.

The Foundation maintained that the site had never been demarcated as a floodplain and that there had been no scientific assessment establishing the extent of environmental damage attributable to the festival. It also questioned the fastening of liability on it when the permissions for the event had been granted by the DDA.

The Court today allowed the appeal, set aside the NGT judgment and directed the DDA to return the ₹5 crore deposited by the Foundation as environmental compensation.

Senior Advocate Nikhil M Sakhardande along with advocates Nipun Katyal, Shubhra Swami and Manan Sharma appeared for the Art of Living Foundation.