Karnataka HC quashes FIR against Sri Sri Ravi Shankar in land encroachment case

The Karnataka High Court on Wednesday quashed the FIR against Art of Living Foundation head and spiritualist Sri Sri Ravi Shankar in connection with a case registered against several persons for alleged land encroachment.

Justice M Nagaprasanna passed the order on a plea filed by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar to quash the case against him.

The FIR in which Sri Sri Ravi Shankar is named, is tied to a public interest litigation (PIL) petition filed in 2023 by one Chandra Sekaran N and some others. The PIL sought demolition of some structures that were allegedly built by encroaching on Government land in Kaggalipura village, Uttarahalli Hobli, Bengaluru South Taluk. Sri Sri Ravi Shankar was among the respondents named in this PIL for having allegedly been involved in the land encroachment.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar maintained that he did not own any land in the area and that he was made a party to the case for ulterior motives. The Court eventually closed the 2023 PIL in September last year by directing the State to take action against any encroachers in accordance with the law.

However, after the High Court disposed of the 2023 PIL, the Bangalore Metropolitan Task Force (BMTF) registered an FIR suo motu, in which Ravi Shankar was among those accused of land encroachment in Kaggalipura village. Sri Sri Ravi Shankar subsequently moved the present plea to quash this FIR.

During hearings, Sri Sri’s counsel highlighted that even in a memo filed by the State’s counsel in the PIL, his name had not featured in the list of alleged encroachers. It was also submitted that Sri Sri had not been named in related proceedings initiated by a Land Grabbing Court in 2024.