New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday (February 28) refused to interfere with the Madras High Court order quashing notices issued by the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB) to Jaggi Vasudev’s Isha Foundation over constructions of buildings between 2006 and 2014 at Coimbatore without mandatory environmental clearance.
A bench comprising Justice Surya Kant and Justice N Kotiswar Singh said that there shall be no coercive action against Yoga and Meditation Centre of Isha Foundation.
What did the apex court say?
The bench said that the Yoga and Meditation Centre will comply with all the laws and if there is any need for expansion, it will take permission from the competent authority.
The apex court also made it clear that this order, which has been passed in peculiar facts and circumstances of the case, should not be treated as a precedent for regularising illegal constructions.
Apex court earlier pulled up TNPCB for delay in challenging High Court order
The top court earlier, while hearing the matter, had pulled up the TNPCB for delay of two years in challenging the High Court order quashing the showcause notice issued to Isha Foundation.
“Mr advocate general (of Tamil Nadu) what prevented the authorities from approaching the court on time. There is a delay of 637 days in filing this petition, which is nearly two years. This is actually a friendly match where the bureaucrats want the stamp of the Supreme Court and the high court on dismissal of the petition,” the bench had said.
Advocate General had told the apex court bench that the delay in approaching the top court challenging the High Court order was not intentional and it was because of the reason that the matter kept going between some or other departments.
Madras High Court set aside showcause notice in December 2022
The TNPCB’s showcause notice issued to Isha Foundation sought to know why prosecution should not be initiated for constructing various buildings between 2006 and 2014, saying that the Foundation had constructed the buildings in the foothills of Velliangiri without obtaining prior environmental clearance.
The High Court on December 14, 2022 quashed the November 19,2021 TNPCB notice issued to Isha Foundation and had allowed a petition moved by Isha Foundation, saying that the facilities set up by Isha Foundation in Coimbatore would fall under the ‘education’ category. The Centre had told the High Court that the Foundation was imparting yoga lessons and running a school and hence, it would fall under the ambit of ‘education’.
