Supreme Court allows Auroville Foundation to build road, sets aside NGT order

The Supreme Court recently set aside the National Green Tribunal’s (NGT) directions restraining the Auroville Foundation from proceeding with construction of two roads in its township in Tamil Nadu [The Auroville Foundation v. Navroz Kersasp Mody]..A Bench of Justices Bela M Trivedi and Prasanna B Varale said the NGT exceeded its jurisdiction and that it can exercise its powers only when a substantial question relating to the environment arise from violations of statutes explicitly listed in Schedule I of the NGT Act. In this case, however, the bench noted no such substantial question existed as per the Act’s defined criteria."The Tribunal has completely misdirected itself by entering into the restricted domain of judicial review under the guise of applying the precautionary principle…Such directions clearly fall outside the purview of the jurisdiction of the Tribunal particularly when there was no substantial question relating to the environment shown to have arisen in implementation of any of the enactments specified in Schedule I appended to the NGT Act,” the Court said..The judgment arose from an appeal filed by the Auroville Foundation challenging the NGT’s orders dated April 28 and July 27, 2022 which the tribunal restrained the Foundation from further construction of the Crown Road, a road encircling the centre of the township, and an outer ring road.The NGT cited environmental concerns raised by local residents who had alleged that building the roads through Darkali forest was damaging the environment and that this area should be treated as a protected ‘deemed forest.’.The Supreme Court said that the area known as Darkali Forest, which was the focus of the dispute, had been classified explicitly as a “man-made plantation” and not as a forest in any official documentation. It pulled up the NGT for incorrectly invoking the 'precautionary principle' despite recognizing that the area was not legally a forest.“Curiously, after having held that the area in question could not be treated as a Forest and that there was no clearance required under the Forest (Conservation) Act, the Tribunal proceeded further applying the ‘Precautionary Principle’… Such directions clearly fall outside the purview of the jurisdiction of the Tribunal,” the Court noted. .The Court emphasized that to invoke jurisdiction under the NGT Act, a clear violation of environmental laws must be demonstrated.“Every question or dispute raised by an applicant before the tribunal pertaining to the environment cannot be treated as a substantial question…Though strict law of evidence may not be applicable to the cases filed before the Tribunal, the Applicant has to raise the substantial question in his Application specifically alleging the violation of a particular enactment specified in Schedule I,” the Court opined..After examining the history of the Auroville project, the Court pointed out that the township and its master plan were approved by the competent authority and published in the official gazette as early as 2010. Hence, the directive of the NGT mandating fresh planning lacked justification..In view of the above, the Court set aside the NGT orders while underscoring the balance required between environmental concerns and development objectives."There is therefore a need for “Sustainable Development” harmonising and striking a golden balance between the right to development and the right to clean environment," the Court noted. .The Auroville Foundation was represented by advocates Balaji Srinivasan and Vaibhav Venkatesh while the respondents were represented by advocates A Yogeswaran, MV Swaroop, TVS Raghavendra Sreyas, Gurmeet Singh Makker, Ajay Marwah and Vikas Mehta. .[Read Judgment]