Sri Sri Ravishankar offered money to Sunni Waqf board to give up Babri Masjid claim: Report

New Delhi : Art of Living head Sri Sri Ravishankar allegedly offered a large sum of money to Sunni Waqf board to give up its one-third claim on disputed land in Ayodhya, a media expose has claimed. 

In a sting operation done by India Today, mahant Dinendra Das of Nirmohi akhada has been allegedly caught on camera offering money to Sunni Waqf Board in lieu of 2.77 acre of land at the disputed site in Ayodhya.

Das told the media house that the deal was from Sri Sri who is mediating with the stakeholders in the Babri mosque dispute for an out-of-court settlement.

Nirmohi Akhada and Art of Living are stakeholders in Supreme Court in the Ayodhya dispute case. 

"Das said this proposal was given to him when he visited Bengaluru on November 11 to meet Ravi Shankar. According to Das, Ravi Shankar offered to give Rs 2 crore to 20 crore to Sunni Waqf Board for leaving their stake on the disputed land," the report said. 

Ravishankar has since refuted the allegations. Other stakeholders have given a mixed response. Ram Vilas Vedanti and Acharya Dharmdas have openly accused Ravishankar of foul play, while Nritya Gopal Das, president of Ram Janm Bhumi Nyas, termed the allegations false and questioned the credibility of Das. "He has no credibility... the allegations are baseless," he said.

Ravishankar's efforts of mediation were a bust even before the expose. 

UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath and senior BJP leaders were not very hopeful about a positive outcome of the exercise as the majority of stakeholders are now waiting for the court verdict.

The apex court will start day-to-day hearing in the case from December 5.