Madras HC quashes show cause notice against Isha Foundation

Isha Foundation headed by yoga guru Jaggi Vasudev on Wednesday breathed sigh of relief follwing Madras High Court's ruling that the organisation comes under the category of educational institution and does not need environmental clearance for construction.

A division bench of acting Chief Justice T Raja and justice D Krishnakumar accepted a plea by Isha Foundation seeking to quash a show cause notice issued to it by the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB) for construction in Velliangiri Hills near Coimbatore between 2006 and 2014 without obtaining environment clearance.

In their verdict, the judges allowed a plea by Isha Foundation that its yoga centre was an educational institution and doesn’t require prior environmental clearance for construction. The judges noted that since the centre’s prime objective was to promote yoga, it came within the definition of an ‘educational institution’ and was exempted from seeking prior environmental clearance.

In a release, Isha Foundation said the Union Government clarified that the definition of an educational institution includes Isha Foundation’s activities and that the EIA notification was never applicable to Educational Institutions.

“On this clarification, Madras High Court quashed a Show Cause Notice issued on the basis of an erroneous interpretation of the law. Isha Foundation has always been committed to protecting the Environment and being compliant with all applicable laws,” the statement added.

Isha Foundation went to court after the district environmental engineer (Coimbatore south) issued a show cause notice to the foundation after an inspection. In January this year, the Madras High Court gave relief to Isha Foundation by restraining environmental authorities from taking any punitive action and posted it for further hearings.

In its arguments, the TNPCB said the buildings constructed by Isha Foundation will fall into the category of infrastructure development and not under “educational institution” and argued that only 500 students were studying, and they wouldn’t require an area of 1.25 lakh square metres.