The Madras high court on Wednesday allowed Isha Foundation’s plea against a show-cause notice issued to it in Tamil Nadu for carrying out construction work between 2006 and 2014 in Coimbatore without obtaining mandatory environmental clearance as per the central government’s Environment Impact Assessment Notification, 2006.
The bench of Acting Chief Justice T Raja and Justice D Krishnakumar observed that since the foundation was carrying out construction work for promoting group development activities and yoga, it came within the definition of an educational institution and thus was exempted from seeking prior environmental clearance.
The bench also observed that an interim stay by the Kerala high court on the operation of the exemption was limited to the jurisdiction of the Kerala HC and, thus, the Madras high court was not bound by the interim stay.
The interim order of the Kerala HC is applicable only within the territorial limits of the state, the court observed.
The foundation had previously contended that according to a clarification issued by the Centre in 2014, all educational institutions, industrial sheds, and hostels are exempt from the requirement of obtaining mandatory environmental clearance before commencing construction work.
Thus, being a yoga centre which is “engaged in promoting mental development”, Isha Foundation had claimed that it would come within the purview of an educational institution.
Tamil Nadu advocate general R Shunmugasundaram argued that the foundation’s claim of being an educational institute was “disputed.”
He had said that even if one were to accept that the yoga centres at the foundation qualify as educational institutes, such educational structures occupy only around 10,000 square metres of the over 1.25 lakh square metres of the foundation premises in Coimbatore.
Senior advocate Satish Parasaran said on behalf of the foundation, however, that according to an office memorandum issued on May 19, 2022, to clarify the 2014 notification, educational institutes were defined as schools, colleges, and any other institute that catered to one’s “physical, mental, and moral development.”
So, he argued, the foundation need not have sought prior environmental clearance for carrying out construction work between 2006 and 2014 at its premises in Coimbatore district.
The Centre also supported Isha Foundation’s stance, stating that it could claim exemption on the ground of being an institute that promotes education.
The court accepted Isha Foundation’s contention and ruled that “the one lakh twenty five thousand square metres of group development construction will fall within the scope of amended notification in our view”.
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