The Supreme Court of India has overturned a 2017 ruling by the National Green Tribunal (NGT) which had held the Art of Living Foundation accountable for environmental damage to the Yamuna floodplains during its 2016 World Culture Festival. In a judgment delivered by a bench comprising Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice N Kotiswar Singh, the Court directed the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) to reimburse the ₹5 crore initially deposited by the Foundation as environmental compensation.
This decision came in response to an appeal by Vyakti Vikas Kendra India (VVKI), an organization linked to the Art of Living Foundation, a global initiative founded by spiritual leader Sri Sri Ravi Shankar. While a more detailed judgment is yet to be published, the current ruling has set aside the earlier conclusions drawn by the NGT.
The ₹5 crore deposit was part of an interim order by the NGT in March 2016, which allowed the World Culture Festival to proceed while requiring the Foundation to deposit this sum as a form of environmental compensation. The event, held from March 11 to 13, 2016, on the Yamuna floodplains in Delhi, raised several environmental concerns regarding the construction of infrastructure such as roads and ramps, which were alleged to have altered the floodplain’s topography.
The NGT had criticized the DDA and the Delhi Pollution Control Committee for their inadequacies in granting necessary permissions and imposed separate penalties on them. In its December 2017 final judgment, the NGT held the Art of Living Foundation liable for damage based on an expert committee’s findings but did not impose additional penalties. Instead, it directed that the ₹5 crore deposit be used by the DDA for the restoration of the affected floodplains.
The Art of Living Foundation contested the NGT’s findings in the Supreme Court, arguing that the site was not officially designated as a floodplain and that there was no scientific evidence to prove the extent of the environmental damage caused by the event. The Foundation also contended that the liability was unjustly placed upon them, given that the DDA had issued the necessary permissions for the festival.
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Senior Advocate Nikhil M Sakhardande, along with advocates Nipun Katyal, Shubhra Swami, and Manan Sharma, represented the Art of Living Foundation in this legal proceeding. The Supreme Court’s decision to allow the appeal and order the refund of the compensation marks a significant development in this high-profile environmental litigation.
