To this, National Green Tribunal Chairperson Justice Swatanter Kumar said: “You have no sense of responsibility. Who gave you the liberty to speak whatever you want to? It is shocking.”
Spiritual guru Sri Sri Ravi Shankar and his Art of Living Foundation earned a severe rebuke from the National Green Tribunal’s (NGT) Principal Bench on Thursday, after Ravi Shankar’s statement slamming the Tribunal for “delaying natural justice” was read out to them.
Senior Advocate Sanjay Parikh, appearing for petitioner Manoj Mishra, read out Ravi Shankar’s statement, in which he had said: “The NGT can never get over the blot it has brought to itself by delaying natural justice to The Art of Living.”
To this, National Green Tribunal Chairperson Justice Swatanter Kumar said: “You have no sense of responsibility. Who gave you the liberty to speak whatever you want to? It is shocking.”
Following this, Nikhil Sakhardande, counsel for Art of Living, argued that the Tribunal Bench was yet to hear its application, which had alleged bias against the Tribunal’s committee. The NGO has alleged that a few members of the NGT-appointed expert committee, which fixed the Rs 42 crore environmental compensation, had mala fide intentions. The Bench said that it will hear that matter at a later date.
Senior advocate Parikh requested the Bench that the Rs 5 crore that the NGO has already deposited with the Tribunal should be used to rejuvenate the Yamuna floodplains. “They have already deposited the money, accepting that damage was done. They have also given an undertaking,” Parikh said.
Sakhardande opposed this request and said that until the Bench heard their application alleging bias, this money should not be used. “The matter is in a state of flux. Since we have already objected to the report, which was the basis for the Rs 5 crore compensation, this money should not be spent,” Sakhardande told the Bench.
Last week, an NGT-appointed expert committee said in its report that Rs 42 crore would be required for the “physical” and “biological” rehabilitation of Yamuna floodplains, which were damaged during the Art of Living’s World Culture Festival in March 2016.
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