# Supreme Court overturns NGT order against Art of Living, orders refund of Rs 5 crore 2026-08-23T02:47:44+00:00 | Governance | Indian Opinion Desk Corroboration: 2 independent outlets The Supreme Court on Saturday set aside a 2017 National Green Tribunal order that held Sri Sri Ravi Shankar's Art of Living Foundation responsible for damaging the Yamuna floodplain during its 2016 World Culture Festival. A bench of Justices Satish Chandra Sharma and NK Singh held that there was ample evidence showing the site was already in a dilapidated condition before being handed over to the foundation. The court directed the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) to refund the Rs 5 crore environmental compensation deposited by the foundation within four weeks. The NGT had ordered the compensation based on an expert committee report that found preparatory work at the site had damaged the floodplain. The Supreme Court, however, said the tribunal was swayed by that report without considering contemporaneous evidence of pre-existing damage or the failure of authorities to implement earlier orders on Yamuna protection. The court also criticised the DDA for granting permission for the event on an active floodplain, calling it avoidable and inconsistent with the precautionary principle and public trust doctrine. It directed DDA to continue rehabilitation work on the floodplain. ## Indian Opinion Analysis Times Now led with the court overturning the NGT order and focused on the site's pre-existing damage, a framing favourable to the foundation. Bar and Bench provided more detail on the court's legal reasoning, including the rejection of the polluter pays principle without a causal link and criticism of the NGT for turning proceedings into a development exercise. Neither outlet highlighted the court's sharp rebuke of the DDA for permitting the event, which both noted but did not emphasise. The measured read: the ruling absolves the foundation of liability, but the court's criticism of both the NGT and DDA suggests systemic failures in floodplain governance that remain unaddressed. Watch whether DDA refunds the Rs 5 crore within four weeks as ordered. ## Coverage Coverage: 2 sources, 2 neutral - timesnownews.com (neutral report) Led with court overturning NGT order and cited pre-existing damage, but included court criticism of DDA. - barandbench.com (neutral report) Straight reporting with detailed legal reasoning, no discernible slant. This story was synthesised by AI from the 2 sources linked above. Updated: this story now draws on 2 sources. Last updated 2026-08-23T05:01:56+00:00. Tags: Art of Living, DDA, NGT, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, Supreme Court, Yamuna Canonical: https://indianopinion.org/sc-overturns-ngt-order-against-art-of-living-directs-rs-5-crore-refund/ License: Summary and commentary (c) Indian Opinion, reusable with attribution. Facts belong to the linked sources. Cite: https://indianopinion.org/sc-overturns-ngt-order-against-art-of-living-directs-rs-5-crore-refund/#story-in-brief How this brief was made: an AI model read the reports linked above and wrote this summary and analysis, which were published automatically. Published briefs are sampled every hour by an automated quality check; the editor verifies its findings and approves corrections, and corrected briefs carry a dated correction line. Stance labels are editorial classifications of how each outlet framed this story, assigned by the same model, not ratings of the outlets. We do no original reporting. Methodology: https://indianopinion.org/ai-use-policy/