Sri Sri Foundation pays Rs 25 lakh first instalment

The Art of Living Foundation of Sri Sri Ravi Shankar has come down from its high horse of prefering jail to payment of the Rs 5 crore demanded for organising the World Cultural Festival on the Yamuna flood plain. In the event, AOL paid Rs 25 lakh demanded by the National Green Tribunal on Friday and agreed to pay up the balance Rs 4.75 crore in 3 weeks. The first instalment was paid to the Delhi Development Authority, as directed by the NGT. The tribunal accepted the undertaking that the AOL would not be able to pay the entire amount of Rs 5 crore by 5 pm on Friday. In their application, AOL claimed it was a charitable organisation and would not be able to raise such a big amount of Rs 5 crore. The NGT said Rs 5 crore was not a fine but compensation for the damage caused to the environment in the flood plain of the Yamuna. Earlier, the NGT had warned Sri Sri Foundation that if it failed to pay Rs 25 lakh today, it would attach Rs 2.5 crore released to the foundation by the Culture Ministry. Whatever the damage to the Yamuna flood plain, Sri Sri, said to be a contender for the Nobel Prize this year, has got some of his sheen eroded.