The Supreme Court today agreed to hear the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB)'s challenge to the quashing of its show cause notice issued to Isha Foundation for allegedly carrying out construction work in Coimbatore (2006-2014) without mandatory environmental clearance (EC).

The case originated from a show cause notice issued on November 19, 2021, by TNPCB, alleging that Isha Foundation carried out construction without obtaining EC under the Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) Notification, 2006.

The Bench of Justice Surya Kant and Justice N.K. Singh expressed concern over the delay in filing the appeal, questioning why the authorities approached the Court belatedly.

Court Questions Delay and TNPCB’s Intentions

Justice Kant remarked, "What prevented the authorities from approaching this Court in time? It has been more than 600 days, which means 2 years have passed by...When the State comes belatedly, we become suspicious."

Senior Advocate V. Giri, appearing for TNPCB, sought permission to file a better affidavit.

However, Justice Kant cautioned against prioritizing cases of affluent parties, stating, "If we start allowing better affidavits… why should affluent parties' matters be heard out of turn?"

Debate Over Isha Foundation’s Status

During the hearing, the Advocate General (AG) P. S. Raman, appearing for Tamil Nadu, argued that the Isha Yoga Centre does not qualify as an educational institution, while the Bench countered that if the Centre was built with approvals, demolition cannot be ordered merely because of technical lapses.

Justice Kant observed, "Now that a yoga centre has been constructed, your concern must be to ensure compliance with environmental norms—sunlight, greenery—raise those issues. Everybody is obligated to comply with that."

Isha Foundation Defends Itself

Senior Advocate Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for Isha Foundation, asserted that the organization had obtained the necessary approvals and that the dispute pertained only to the environmental clearance.

"Only 20% of the land is constructed, 80% is green. It's one of the best centres in India. We can even take your Lordships on a public tour," Rohatgi submitted.

Case Adjourned Till Post-Mahashivratri

At the request of the counsels, the Court adjourned the matter and scheduled it for hearing after Mahashivratri.

Background of the Case

Isha Foundation challenged this notice before the Madras High Court, arguing that its construction activities had begun in 1994, predating the 2006 EIA Notification. The foundation contended that as a yoga center engaged in "promoting mental development," it qualified as an educational institution, exempt from EC requirements under a 2014 clarification by the Central Government.

While the Tamil Nadu government opposed the claim that Isha Foundation was an educational institution, the Centre supported the exemption.

The Madras High Court, on December 14, 2022, had quashed the show cause notice, ruling that Isha Foundation's activities fell within the definition of an educational institution. The Court had also clarified that an interim stay issued by the Kerala High Court on the exemption’s operation was not binding outside Kerala.

"The petitioner (Isha Foundation) has undertaken the project of construction of group development for yoga centre with a total built up area of 1,25,800.41 sq.m. out of total plot area of 4,87,418.59 sq.m. comprising of various types of residential units, school, meditation hall etc., and in view of our findings that the yoga centre being run by the petitioner also comes within the definition of educational institution, thereby entitling the petitioner to get the benefit of exemption from obtaining the environmental clearance for the buildings constructed pre 2006 and post 2014, as per 8(a) of the amended notification dated 22.12.2014 to the EIA schedule that would necessarily have retrospective operation as agreed by the first respondent, the impugned notice seeking to initiate prosecution against the petitioner cannot be legally sustainable and therefore, the writ petition stands allowed by quashing the impugned notice," the High Court had ordered.

Cause Title: Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB) v. Isha Foundation [Diary No. 57906/2024]

Justice Surya KantJustice N. Kotiswar Singh

Sukriti Mishra

    Sukriti Mishra was a Legal Correspondent at Verdictum. She covered the Supreme Court. She completed her graduation with BA. LL.B (Hons.) from The ICFAI University, Dehradun. Sukriti started covering courts in March 2022. She had previously worked with another legal news portal, where she covered the Delhi High Court and Trial Courts.