Sharad Yadav demands arrest of Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, says 'is he above the system'

New Delhi: Janata Dal United (JD-U) chief Sharad Yadav has demanded the arrest of the Art of Living founder and renowned spiritual guru Sri Sri Ravi Shankar for organising the World Culture Festival by flouting the environmental norms.

"Why no action is being taken against the organiser as the government in now paying back to the godman for his support earlier,".he said while raising the issue in Lok Sabha on Friday..

The JDU leader also questioned, ''Is he (Sri Sri) above the law of the land?''.

The JDU chief had earlier advised Prime Minister Narendra Modi not to attend the cultural festival organised by the spiritual guru in view of the controversy surrounding the event.

"This man supported the government, and now he is reaping the benefit. The President has pulled out of the festival, and I believe that even our Prime Minister should not attend it. Even environmentalists are slamming this event," Yadav was quoted as saying by ANI.

"Army men are being put to work on this project. The DDA has denied permission to this project twice. The NGT has allocated two committees to review the project, and both the committees gave adverse reports, still nobody is putting a halt on the project," he had said.

Yadav further criticised the event, asserting that the festival is of no use to the nation and might add on to the current safety concerns.

"There is news that terrorists have intruded into the country, and the event organiser says 35 lakh people will be attending the cultural event, who will be responsible if anything goes wrong. The massacre will be huge. I don't understand how this event will help the nation," he had said.

A bench headed by NGT chairperson Swantanter Kumar had also asked the Ministry of Environment and Forests to file an affidavit and tell why no environmental clearance is needed for raising temporary structures.