AOL blinks as it agrees to pay Rs 25 lakhs today, rest in 3 weeks

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar pulled up for saying that he is willing to go jail but will not pay the Rs 5 cr fine

The Art of Living Foundation has finally blinked first, agreeing to pay Rs 25 lakhs on Friday and the rest of a Rs 5 crore fine over a period of 3 weeks. This follows a stand taken by the AOL founder Sri Sri Ravi Shankar that he would rather go to jail than pay the fine. 

Pulling up AOL's founder for his statement, NGT said that the money demanded was not a penalty but environment compensation. The tribunal observed that the comment was not expected from someone of Sri Sri's stature.

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The green tribunal further ordered all the authorities to ensure no pollution is spread in the Yamuna during the World Culture Festival, that is set to begin later today. 

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar had told NDTV on Thursday that he would prefer going to jail over paying a fine ordered by the NGT. 

Even as the NGT warned AOL to not make the tribunal a subject of controversy, Union minister M Venkaiah Naidu came out in support of AOL's World Cultural Festival and said the event would "bring glory to India". 

In a series of tweets, Naidu said that the event, which begins on Friday, should not be politicised and that the use of the Army to help in event-related construction was not unique or controversial. 

According to PTI, AOL has said that the Rs 5-crore fine should be taken as restoration amount for biodiversity park and not in the form of a penalty.

The NGT had earlier said inability to pay the fine by the stipulated time would result in 'the law taking its own course'.