No coercive action against Isha Foundation, SC directs pollution control board

The Madras High Court had set aside TNPCB notice holding that the facilities set up by the Isha Foundation in Coimbatore would fall under the education category

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday refused to interfere with the Madras High Court order quashing notices of the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board against Jaggi Vasudev’s Isha Foundation over construction of buildings in the foothills of Velliangiri mountains without prior environmental clearance.

A bench of Justices Surya Kant and N Kotiswar Singh said there shall be no coercive action against Isha Foundation’s Yoga and Meditation Centre constructed in Velliangiri hills of Coimbatore.

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It said the Yoga and Meditation Centre will comply with all environmental norms and directions of the pollution control board. The bench said in case of expansion of the Yoga and Meditation Centre, prior nod of competent authority will be taken.

The top court, however, clarified that the order will not create precedent for regularising the illegal construction and that it has been passed in peculiar facts and circumstances of the case.

On December 14, 2022, holding that the facilities set up by the Isha Foundation in Coimbatore would fall under the education category, the high court set aside the TNPCB notice.

The high court quashed the notice dated November 19, 2021, and allowed the plea of the Isha Foundation. The showcause notice was over construction of buildings in the foothills of Velliangiri without prior environmental clearance.