HC dismisses FIR against Sri Sri Ravi Shankar in land encroachment case

The High Court on Wednesday quashed the FIR registered against Art of Living founder Sri Sri Ravi Shankar in a case of alleged land encroachment in Bengaluru.

Justice M Nagaprasanna quashed the FIR on a petition from Ravi Shankar. The FIR was linked to a public interest litigation filed in 2023 by Chandra Sekaran N and others, which called for the demolition of structures allegedly built on government land at Kaggalipura village in Uttarahalli Hobli, off Kanakapura road in South Bengaluru.

The PIL mentioned Ravi Shankar as a respondent. The Sri Sri founder, however, denied the allegations, asserting that he owned no land in the area and inclusion of his name was driven by ulterior motives.


The high court closed the 2023 PIL last September, directing the state government to act against encroachers per the law. The Bangalore Metropolitan Task Force, despite the closure, registered a suo motu FIR in which Ravi Shankar was implicated.

Ravi Shankar contested the FIR, arguing through counsel that he was not listed as an encroacher in State filings and was not named in related Land Grabbing Court proceedings in 2024.