The National Green Tribunal (NGT) on Tuesday sought to know if holding religious and cultural events, like the World Culture Festival organised by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar’s Art of Living Foundation last year, can be prohibited by bringing it under the umbrella of environment laws.
The NGT sought responses from the Centre and the AAP government, as some supporters of the festival challenged the jurisdiction of the Tribunal to decide the issue of damage to the floodplains of Yamuna caused due to the three-day event held in March 2016.
The plea moved by Prajanya Chowdhry, Anil Kapoor and Anand Mathur said cultural and religious rights form part of “Right To Live With Dignity” as guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution and therefore cannot be banned or stopped.
No jurisdiction?
Advocate Anirudh Sharma, who appeared for them, said the Constitution allowed individuals to hold events like World Culture Festival and any restriction would deny them such rights.
The petitioners said the NGT, in its present composition, lacked jurisdiction to decide issues of fundamental rights and their width, scope and interpretation. The petitioners, quoting several Articles of the Constitution, contended it was their right to organise and participate in events like Kumbh, Chhath and World Culture Festival, subject to reasonable restriction and environmental concerns.
“It is most respectfully submitted that the power and authority to interpret provisions of the Constitution only rest with the Supreme Court or various high courts. The NGT Act 2010 does not empower this tribunal with the writ jurisdiction power of the high courts and thus is not competent to interpret the Constitution read along with any other law in operation," the plea said.
The plea comes days after the green court directed an expert panel to quantify tentative cost of rejuvenating Yamuna riverbed, damaged due to the Art of Living festival.
