Art of Living case: Confusion over NGT order, next hearing on October 7

The principal committee in the Art of Living (AoL) case told National Green Tribunal (NGT) on Wednesday that compensation is yet to be quantified. In its August 10 order, the Tribunal had asked the committee to come up with a monetary figure to be taken from AoL for damaging the Yamuna floodplain during its three-day World Cultural Festival.

The NGT bench, headed by Justice Jawad Rahim, referred to a letter by the committee’s chairman, Sashi Shekhar, dated September 9, that sought time till November-end to come up with the amount. The letter blamed the delay on inundation of the floodplain due to adverse weather conditions, making assessment impossible.

Arguing against AoL, Sanjay Parikh pointed out there was no need to assess the floodplain again, as the figure had to be calculated on the basis of the report filed by the committee on July 25. In the absence of NGT chairperson, Justice Swatanter Kumar, the bench observed that the committee might have misunderstood the order, and scheduled the next hearing for October 7.