More than a decade after Sri Sri Ravi Shankar’s Art of Living Foundation held its controversial World Culture Festival on the Yamuna floodplains, the Supreme Court has overturned a National Green Tribunal order that held the organisation responsible for environmental damage caused by the event.

In a judgment delivered on Saturday, August 22, the Supreme Court directed the Delhi Development Authority to refund Rs 5 crore deposited by the Art of Living Foundation as environmental compensation, according to The New Indian Express.

The order was passed by a Bench of Justices Satish Chandra Sharma and N.K. Singh while hearing an appeal filed by Vyakti Vikas Kendra India (VVKI), an Indian organisation associated with the Art of Living Foundation.

While the Art of Living is the broader international organisation founded by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, VVKI is a separate Indian entity linked to it and was the petitioner before the Supreme Court.

The Rs 5 crore compensation had been imposed by the NGT in connection with the World Culture Festival held on the Yamuna floodplains in 2016. The green tribunal had allowed the three-day event to go ahead but imposed an interim environmental compensation on the foundation over concerns about its impact on the fragile floodplain ecosystem.

At the time, the NGT had observed that it was unable to stop the event because of a “fait accompli”.

The Supreme Court, however, found fault with the process through which the assessment of environmental damage had been made. It held that the findings of the expert committee relied upon by the NGT had been prepared in “violation of natural justice”, as the Art of Living side was not given an opportunity to submit evidence before the committee.

The top court also questioned the estimates prepared for the alleged environmental damage.

According to the judgment, the committee’s initial assessment of Rs 42.02 crore, subsequently revised to Rs 13.29 crore, was arbitrary and not supported by conclusive evidence that the Yamuna floodplain had been “completely destroyed”.

The Supreme Court further noted that the World Culture Festival had been organised after obtaining the required permissions from the Delhi Development Authority, the Ministry of Environment, the Uttar Pradesh Irrigation Department and other authorities.
The ruling marks a significant reversal of the earlier findings that followed the massive cultural event, which drew environmental criticism for being held on the ecologically sensitive Yamuna floodplains.

Following the event, an expert committee had informed the NGT that extensive rehabilitation work would be required to repair ecological damage allegedly caused to the floodplains. The committee, headed by Shashi Shekhar, then secretary of the Ministry of Water Resources, had estimated the restoration cost at Rs 13.29 crore and said the process could take almost a decade.

“It has been estimated that approximately 120 hectares (about 300 acres) of floodplains of west (right bank) of the river Yamuna and about 50 hectares (120 acres) floodplains of the eastern side (left bank) of the river have been adversely impacted ecologically at different magnitudes,” the committee had said.

The committee had also told the NGT that major restoration work would be necessary to compensate for the ecological impact of the event.

The Supreme Court’s decision, however, has now set aside the basis on which the environmental compensation was imposed, holding that the assessment process suffered from procedural shortcomings and that there was no conclusive proof to support the finding that the floodplains had been completely destroyed.

With the Rs 5 crore compensation now ordered to be returned, the ruling brings a major legal relief to the organisation and reverses one of the most prominent environmental actions taken in connection with the 2016 World Culture Festival on the Yamuna floodplains.