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Relief for Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Karnataka HC extends interim order staying further probe against him in encroachment case

The plea before the high court sought to quash the FIR registered by the Bangalore Metropolitan Task Force Police against spiritual leader Sri Sri Ravi Shankar under the Karnataka Land Revenue Act, 1964.

2 min readBengaluruJan 23, 2026 11:51 AM IST

On Wednesday, the Karnataka High Court had warned that if the petitioner did not cure the defects in the plea by Friday, the interim order would be automatically vacated. (File photo)

The Karnataka High Court Friday extended its interim order staying further investigation into the First Information Report (FIR) registered against spiritual leader Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, in a case involving alleged encroachment of government land.

On Wednesday, the single-judge bench of Justice M Nagaprasanna had warned that if the petitioner did not cure the defects in the petition by Friday, the interim order would be automatically vacated.

The plea sought to quash the FIR registered by the Bangalore Metropolitan Task Force Police, under Section 192A (offences and penalties) of the Karnataka Land Revenue Act, 1964.

The judge said on Friday, “The order dated 21-01-2026, has since been complied with in that light the interim order subsisting would continue till the next date. Relist the petition for hearing on February 5.”

As per legal practice, along with a writ petition filed under Article 226 (power of high courts to issue writs) of the Constitution of India, read with Section 528 (inherent powers of the high court) of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhitha (BNSS), the petitioners were to file an affidavit deposing that the contents mentioned in the plea were true.

In the previous hearing, Additional State Public Prosecutor B A Belliappa had raised a preliminary objection to the affidavit filed by a devotee of an ashram and the petitioner (Ravi Shankar), and sought that the petition be dismissed. The counsel for petitioner P Prasanna Kumar had then assured the court that the needful would be done by Friday.