# Supreme Court sets aside NGT order against Art of Living Foundation 2026-08-25T21:21:55+00:00 | Governance | Indian Opinion Desk Corroboration: 1 independent outlet The Supreme Court on Saturday set aside a 2017 order of the National Green Tribunal that had held Sri Sri Ravi Shankar's Art of Living Foundation responsible for damage to the Yamuna floodplains during its World Culture Festival in 2016. A bench of Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice N K Singh directed the Delhi Development Authority to refund the Rs 5 crore environmental compensation deposited by the foundation. The order came on an appeal by Vyakti Vikas Kendra India, which is associated with the Art of Living Foundation. The top court also directed the DDA to continue rehabilitation work on the Yamuna floodplains as earlier ordered by the NGT. ## Indian Opinion Analysis The NGT had in 2017 ruled that the three-day festival caused irreversible ecological damage to the ecologically sensitive Yamuna floodplains, an area that serves as a natural flood buffer for Delhi. The Rs 5 crore compensation was meant to fund restoration of the riverbed and adjacent wetlands. The Supreme Court's reversal effectively removes the liability from the foundation but keeps the rehabilitation obligation on the DDA. The next question is how the DDA will fund the restoration work without the compensation amount, and whether any independent ecological audit of the floodplains will now be ordered. The Supreme Court's reversal effectively removes the liability from the foundation but keeps the rehabilitation obligation on the DDA. The next question is how the DDA will fund the restoration work without the compensation amount, and whether any independent ecological audit of the floodplains will now be ordered. ## Coverage - rediff.com PTI-sourced story, straight factual report with no framing slant. This brief was synthesised by AI from the source linked above. Tags: Art of Living Foundation, Delhi Development Authority, National Green Tribunal, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, Supreme Court, Yamuna Canonical: https://indianopinion.org/supreme-court-sets-aside-ngt-order-against-art-of-living-foundation/ License: Summary and commentary (c) Indian Opinion, reusable with attribution. Facts belong to the linked sources. Cite: https://indianopinion.org/supreme-court-sets-aside-ngt-order-against-art-of-living-foundation/#story-in-brief Review state: restored archive article, accurate at time of publication, not offered to search indexes. How this brief was made: an AI model read the report 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. We do no original reporting. Methodology: https://indianopinion.org/ai-use-policy/