How NGT surrendered the Yamuna to Art of Living

For some time now, I have been of the opinion that matters of governance should be left to the government and its executive. The courts should refrain from running the country. Over the years, we have seen a somewhat ‘pro-active’ judiciary, and we, the people, have cheered its role, as most of the time it’s been the only credible and sincere institution strengthening the pillars of democracy and governance. Little did we realize in this euphoria that we were weakening the foundations of our nation instead.

Let’s see what’s been happening with the National Green Tribunal (NGT), which is one such legal institution that has come full circle from a no-nonsense judicial body to an utterly spineless institution.

As per its own website, the NGT was “established on 18.10.2010 under the National Green Tribunal Act 2010 for effective and expeditious disposal of cases relating to environmental protection and conservation of forests and other natural resources, including enforcement of any legal right relating to environment and giving relief and compensation for damages to persons and property and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto. It is a specialized body equipped with the necessary expertise to handle environmental disputes involving multi-disciplinary issues.”

Since its inception, the NGT has pronounced some very effective and perhaps even desperate judgments, furthering the cause and purpose of the environment. In the case of the POSCO steel project in Odisha, for instance, the tribunal protected the rights of local communities and forests against the might of the country’s single largest FDI venture.  More recently, however, the Art of Living’s (AoL) World Culture Festival (WCF) and the role of the NGT in facilitating a smooth passage to AoL is an interesting case because it shows the tribunal in bad light and suggests that it might just have lost the plot.

Manoj Mishra, of Yamuna Jiye Abhiyan, had approached the NGT on February 8, 2016, after exhausting all options with the executive, including having written several letters to the Lieutenant Governor of Delhi and other officials for approximately a year. In the course of hearing the matter and conducting a detailed study of the site by its Principal Committee, the NGT found enough evidence to establish that there was a clear violation of its previous order dated January 2015 that prohibited any construction in the floodplains of Yamuna, temporary or permanent. In its interim order pronounced on March 9, 2016, the NGT clearly indicts AoL and states:

“It is the consistent view of the Experts and is sufficiently evident from the documents placed on record that the flood plains have been drastically tampered with while destroying the natural flow of the river, reeds, grasses, natural vegetation on the river bed. It has further disturbed the aquatic life of the river and destroyed water bodies and wet lands on the floodplains.”

 Yet, despite this, the NGT granted permission to AoL to go ahead with WCF, setting aside the tribunal’s own critical observations and previous judgments (starting January 2015). The contempt of the AoL for the NGT was in full public view, but the NGT blamed the petitioner for having approached the tribunal too late. It conveniently forgot that it cannot be the ‘duty’ of the petitioner to establish the rule of law. Is it a ‘fault’ for a petitioner to have faith in the structures of government that have been established using public resources?

As if granting AoL permission to go ahead with the event was not enough, the NGT asked AoL to deposit an interim amount of Rs 5 crores, an amount that was less than 5% of the penalty suggested by its own Principal Committee that had assessed the damage to the floodplains. This limited amount was to be paid by March 10.

What happened between March 9 and March 11 was nothing short of an absolute travesty of justice and a complete surrender of the NGT to the influence of Sri Sri Ravi Shankar. Shankar refused to pay the Rs 5 crores and dared the NGT to send him to jail instead. NGT’s response? A quick amendment to its own judgement — it clarified that the Rs 5 crores were just “environmental compensation” and not a penalty. Yes, there was some posturing from NGT, which stated on March 10 that they would stop the event if AoL didn’t pay the amount by 4pm. However, this statement was retracted in a few hours and finally, WCF went ahead as per its plans, with a meagre deposit of Rs 25 lakhs.

That grand so called biggest ‘cultural’ stage of the WCF still stand, like a chest-thumping skeleton on the floodplains, even as the Yamuna flows quietly by. All the ‘temporary’ structures set up by the AoL were supposed to have been cleared within four weeks of the event. The workers working on the site have said that, in their estimate and at the current pace of work, it’s going to take several more weeks to dismantle the stage, as it has now sunk into the ground because of its weight, engineering and the effect of the rains.

In this entire spectacle of face-saving and face loss with AoL, one thing is evident: the NGT violated its own principle of “Polluter Pays” and was reduced to mere tokenism rather than saving the environment. It betrayed the very idea for which the NGT was established.

Ultimately, AoL defaulted on the promise made to NGT about paying the remaining amount (Rs 4.75 crore) by April 1, 2016. Instead, it filed a Miscellaneous Application stating that they would rather give a bank guarantee than the actual amount. AoL further asked the Courts if they could assist in the damage assessment and pay the amount only after that assessment is done. Rather than NGT feeling enraged at this outlandish attitude and brazenness of AoL and ideally reprimanding them for violating their orders and directions one after another, the tribunal became a mute spectator to the assault on its own dignity. The NGT’s empowered Principal Committee has not submitted its final damage assessment report as yet (they were supposed to do so within four weeks as well). AoL appears to be dictating the text of the judgement to the NGT at every stage and the NGT seems to be accepting their diktats.

The next hearing is scheduled for April 21, 2016, but how does anyone believe in the credentials and credibility of the NGT when it stands compromised at every stage of its own due process?