‘Isha Foundation can be exempted from green norms’

CHENNAI:  Coimbatore-based Isha Foundation is eligible for exemption from environmental clearance since the buildings constructed by the foundation were for educational purposes, said the Union government in a submission to the Madras High Court.

The averments were made by Additional Solicitor General R Shankarnarayanan before the first bench headed by Acting Chief Justice T Raja on Monday in a plea moved by the foundation challenging a notice issued by the TN government over constructions carried out by it without environment clearance between 2006 and 2014.

The 2014 environment protection amendment rules provide an exemption from such clearances to educational institutes, industrial sheds, and hospitals, Shankarnarayanan said. The purpose of the exemption was to prevent harassment and to strike a balance, the ASG said. 

The State government in January had issued a notice and initiated prosecution against the foundation on the ground that it had failed to obtain the mandatory environmental clearance under the Union Government’s Environment Impact Assessment Notification of 2006 for constructions made on its premises.

The foundation had moved the HC against the notice, contending that amendments were made to environment rules to exempt educational institutes, industrial sheds, hostels, and hospitals from such clearances.

The 2014 amendment granted a retrospective exemption to educational institutes and the State government’s action was illegal, the foundation had said in its petition. Advocate General R Shunmugasundaram had submitted that while the State had already initiated proceedings against Isha Foundation, it was for the Centre to clarify on the issue of exemption.