World Culture Festival: AOL to pay Rs 25 lakhs in fine today, rest Rs 4.75 crore to be deposited in 3 weeks

New Delhi: In a breather for the Art of Living (AOL) Foundation, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) on Friday granted the organisation run by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar three weeks' time to pay in full Rs 5 crore fine imposed on it for organising the World Culture Festival on the flood plain of river Yamuna.

The AOL will deposit Rs 25 lakhs today itself and the balance Rs 4.75 crores within three weeks.

The AOL had earlier been directed by the NGT to submit the fine with the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) by 5 pm today.

Hearing an application filed by the AOL, the tribunal accepted its undertaking that it will not be able to pay the full fine by 5 pm today.

In its application, the AOL had said that it is a charitable organisation and it is difficult for it to generate Rs 5 crores in a short period.

The AOL agreed to deposit Rs 25 lakhs today itself and the balance amount within the stipulated time when asked by the NGT if a part of the penalty could be paid today as it “environment compensation”.

“How much money can you deposit today? It's not a penalty but environment compensation,” the NGT asked the AOL.

The AOL had earlier said that the amount required to be paid by it should not be taken as penalty but as environment compensation for biodiversity park to be built on the site of the festival.

The NGT, meanwhile, said if the AOL fails to pay Rs 25 lakhs today, then the grant of Rs 2.5 crore released to the foundation by the Culture Ministry will be attached.

NGT warns AOL

The NGT today took a strong exception to Sri Sri Ravi Shankar's remarks made yesterday that he will not pay the fine and was ready to go to jail.

“Is it correct you made a statement that you will not pay the Rs 5 crore fine and rather go to jail?” the NGT asked.

“Do not make the tribunal a subject of controversy,” it said, warning, “If anybody hurts the image of the tribunal, we will take it to a logical conclusion as per rule of law.”

“When a person of that stature (Ravi Shankar) makes such statements, it hits rule of law,” the tribunal said.

The NGT had imposed the fine on AOL on Wednesday while giving it the permission to hold the mega festival on the Yamuna flood plain.

On Thursday morning, the NGT had said that if the AOL fails to submit the fine of Rs 5 crore with the Delhi Development Authority by 4 pm, it may cancel the permission.

However, the tribunal, in the evening, had extended the deadline for AOL to pay the fine till 5 pm today.

It may be noted that the event will kick-off at 5 pm today with Prime Minister Narendra Modi attending the inauguration.

Meanwhile, the tribunal pulled up the Ministry of Water Resources for not doing anything to protect Yamuna from pollution despite several directions.

It said all authorities have to ensure no pollution is spread in the Yamuna.

Separately, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh also spoke on the AOL controversy today, saying, “There is no controversy. Sri Sri Ravi Shankar is known for resolving controversial issues.”

Union Urban Development Minister Venkaiah Naidu also tweeted, “World Culture Festival by Art of Living will bring glory to India. let's not politicise this (sic).”


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Sri Sri gets time till March 11 to pay fine

The National Green Tribunal (NGT) said on Thursday that the Art of Living (AoL) Foundation “has time till tomorrow [Friday] to pay Rs. five crore in initial environmental compensation, and the law will take its own course if it fails to do so.”

Giving the go-ahead for the three-day World Culture Festival, being organised on the fragile floodplains of the Yamuna, the tribunal had asked the foundation to pay the Rs. 5 crore fine before the start of the event on Friday evening.

But Art of Living founder Ravi Shankar told NDTV on Thursday afternoon that he would rather go to jail than pay the fine. He argued that he had not violated any rule, hence was not liable to pay any penalty. He said the foundation would challenge the tribunal’s order in the top court.

Arguing against the festival, Sanjay Parikh, counsel for the petitioners, however, said: “He is a spiritual guru and a leader. It would only set a good example if the law of the land is followed. We will of course take legal action as required if they go on appeal against the NGT’s order or fail to pay the penalty.”

According to the organisers, 3.5 million people from across the world will take part in the event.

No urgent hearing

The NGT was informed by counsel for the Delhi Development Authority that the Art of Living Foundation had not deposited the initial penalty that needed to be paid ahead of its World Culture Festival.

On an application which said the foundation had not paid the amount till 5 p.m., the tribunal said they still have time till Friday. Refusing to have an urgent hearing of a fresh petition for a stay on the event alleging that the AoL had not taken permissions from the competent authority as directed by the tribunal, chairperson Swatantar Kumar said: “There is no urgency in it.”

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Sri Sri extravaganza: Ravi Shankar says Modi attending, NGT threatens to revoke permission if Rs 5 cr fine is not paid

He also said that it was not a wrong decision on their part to organise the event on the banks of Yamuna.

The controversy surrounding the National Green Tribunal is threatening to blow up with the National Green Tribunal telling the Art of Living foundation that if they don’t pay a fine of Rs 5,00,00,000 by 4 PM, it will revoke the clearance for the event. Sri Sri Ravi Shankar however refused to accept the report saying that a three-team delegation couldn’t gauge environmental damage in half an hour. He added that PM Modi was coming to the event and that President (who dropped out) had sent a letter wishing them.

Earlier, in an interview with NDTV, he said his organisation would appeal the fine in court and he’d rather got to jail than pay the amount. Meanwhile, the Supreme Court has refused to entertain a plea seeking a stay on the World Cultural Festival of AOL.

Sri Sri says Modi is coming

Spiritual leader Sri Sri Ravi Shankar on Thursday confirmed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi would be attending the three-day ‘World Culture Festival’ being organised by the Art of Living Foundation beginning on Friday.

Talking to ANI, he said that Prime Minister Modi would be attending the event and added that he has received a letter from President Pranab Mukherjee wishing good luck. Asserting that the Art of Living has very high grounds, he said that the organisation would contest the fine of Rs. five crore imposed by the National Green Tribunal (NGT) ahead of the mega festival on the banks of the River Yamuna in Delhi amid environmental concerns. ‘We have very high grounds and we will contest on that,’ Sri Sri told ANI. The 59-year-old also said that it was not a wrong decision on their part to organise the event on the banks of Yamuna.

‘We went there and cleaned the place. The smell that used to come from that place is not coming anymore so much as it used to. So, we are for environment. And I appeal to all the environmentalists, let us all together make this a beautiful place. This cultural festival for few days is not going to damage and is not damaging the Yamuna,’ he added.

Speaking on the report sent by three individual specialists on the three-day World Culture Festival, he said, ‘We won't accept the report given by three people, who went there for half-an-hour. They should tell us what damage has been done. They should be sent again and they should tell us the extent of damage. They should tell us what was there before the construction.’

The NGT gave its consent for the event, but imposed a penalty of Rs. five crore on the Art of Living foundation for damaging the environment. A bench headed by NGT chairperson Swantanter Kumar yesterday asked Ministry of Environment and Forests to file an affidavit and spell out why no environmental clearance is needed for raising temporary structures.

The direction came after the counsel appearing for the Ministry of Environment and Forests said that they have found no debris when an expert team visited the site. The counsel added that as per Environment Impact Assessment notification 2006, no environment clearance is needed for temporary structures

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