Karnataka High Court Halts Investigation Against Ravi Shankar in Land Encroachment Case

Court Decision on Ravi Shankar's Case

On Tuesday, the Karnataka High Court issued a stay on the investigation involving Ravi Shankar, the head of the Art of Living Foundation, regarding alleged land encroachment in Bengaluru.

This stay will remain effective until the next court session scheduled for January 21.

Justice M Nagaprasanna delivered the interim ruling, indicating that there were no substantial allegations against Ravi Shankar at this stage. However, he emphasized that the case is not being dismissed but merely paused.

The judge remarked, “In the absence of any allegations, the petitioner should not be entangled in criminal proceedings unless the special public prosecutor presents evidence of direct involvement in any wrongdoing during the next hearing.”

The court was addressing a petition from Ravi Shankar, who sought to annul the first information report (FIR) filed against him by the Bangalore Metropolitan Task Force in September.

This FIR is associated with a public interest litigation from 2023, which claimed extensive encroachment of government land in Kaggalipura village, as reported.

Ravi Shankar has refuted claims of land ownership in the disputed area, suggesting that his inclusion in the petition was motivated by ulterior intentions.

In September, the High Court had already dismissed the public interest litigation and instructed the state to take necessary actions against any encroachers.

In his petition, Ravi Shankar noted that his name was not included in the list of alleged encroachers provided by the state in the now-dismissed proceedings. He also highlighted that he was not mentioned in the actions taken by a Land Grabbing Court in 2024.

Despite this, a suo moto FIR was filed on September 19 under the Karnataka Land Revenue Act, listing Ravi Shankar among those accused of encroachment.