ISKCON Bangalore vs ISKCON Mumbai court ruling (Copy of the original judgement)

IA 20 IN SLP(C)15814/11


ITEM NO.3                                                  COURT NO.2                                       SECTION IVA


                     S U P R E M E     C O U R T   O F    I N D I A
                      RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS

IA 20/2011 in
Petition(s) for Special Leave to Appeal (Civil) No(s).15814/2011

(From the judgement and order dated 23/05/2011 in RFA No.421/2009 of
The HIGH COURT OF KARNATAKA AT BANGALORE)


M/S INTERNATIONAL SOC.FOR KRISHNA,BANGALORE- Petitioner(s)

                          VERSUS

M/S INTERNL.STY.FOR KIRSHNA MUMBAI & ORS- Respondent(s)

( for vacating stay and office report ))


Date: 14/12/2011       This Petition was called on for hearing today.

CORAM :                                                                                                                                             
              HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE ALTAMAS KABIR                                                                 
              HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE SURINDER SINGH NIJJAR                                                
              HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE J. CHELAMESWAR                                                           



For Petitioner(s)      -     Mr.   Uday U. Lalit, Sr. Adv.
                                                    Mr.   Mathai M.Paikaday, Sr. Adv.
                                                            Mr.   Hari Shankar K, Adv.-on-Record.
                                              Mr.   Srinivas Raghavan, Adv.
                                  Mr.   Ashu Kansal, Adv.
                                    Mr.   R.M. Agarwal, Adv.
                                               Mr.   Vikas Singh Jangra, Adv.

For Respondent(s)   -           Mr.   K.K. Venugopal, Sr. Adv.
                                                       Mr.   Krishnan Venogopal, Sr. Adv.
                                 Ms.   Ekta Kapil, Adv.
                                            Mr.   Pratyush Miglani, Adv.
                                                                              Ms.   B. Vijayalakshmi Menon, Adv.-on-Record.
                                      Mr. P.K. Ghosh, Sr. Adv.
                                               Mr. Debabrta Banerjee, Adv.
R2                                     Mr. Ashok Mathur, Adv.

 IA 20 IN SLP(C)15814/11
                                                      2


                    UPON hearing counsel the Court made the following
                                        O R D E R


                          I.A.20 of 2011, has been filed on behalf of

                 the      respondents,    inter        alia,       for    vacating       the

                 interim orders passed by this Court on 6th June,

                 2011 and 5th July, 2011.

                 2.                  The dispute is between two societies having

                                                    identical names and claiming to be the owners and

                                                in management of the temple of the International

                                               Society for Krishna Consciousness, Bangalore.

                 3.       By   the    order    dated       6th    June,        2011,   this

                                     Court      while     issuing    notice           and    after     hearing

                 learned counsel for both the parties, gave certain

                 interim directions and one of the directions we are

                          concerned with reads as follow:-  ".....5.           In       the
                                meanwhile,,           the    parties            shall
                                maintain status quo, as of today.
                                However,        the       Bangalore        Society
                                with its present officer bearers
                                shall           continue                day-to-day
                                management       of       the      Society        but
                                would     not     take      any         major     and
                                policy           decision                 creating
                                liabilities       of any          kind for        the
                                Bangalore Society."
 IA 20 IN SLP(C)15814/11
                                                       3

                 4.          The    present        I.A.20    has   been    filed    for 

 vacation of the said directions.

              5.          By    virtue     of     the    aforesaid     order,    the

                            petitioner-society has been running the affairs of

                              the temple at Bangalore till date.  However, since

                                         a  decree    has     been    passed    in   favour    of     the

                                                     respondent-society,           wherein       directions    have    been

                           given to the petitioners not to interfere with the

                                   possession of the respondent society in the temple

                               and its properties,  we are of the view that some

                                     arrangement has to be made till we can hear out the

                                  Special Leave Petition, for the temple at Bangalore

                                  to be managed in a manner so that there is some

 amount of transparency.

                 6.           Having heard Mr. Venugopal, learned senior

                                     counsel for the applicant in I.A.20, and Mr. Lalit,

                                       learned  senior counsel   appearing      for     the

                                       petitioner-society in the Special Leave Petition,

                                        we direct that the Special Leave Petition, which we

                                    are informed is otherwise ready for hearing, be

                                        listed for final hearing on 15th February, 2012, at

                 the top of the list.

                 7.          In the meantime, in addition to the interim

                                       directions, which had been given in the order of

                                              6th June, 2011, we appoint a Committee to oversee

                                         the management of the temple and its properties.

 IA 20 IN SLP(C)15814/11
                                                 4

                 The said Committee shall consist of:-

                      1. Hon'ble Mr. Justice R.V. Raveendaran(retd.) as

                          Chairman.

                      2. Shri Ananda Thirtha Das, Member.

                      3. Shri Stoka Krishna Das, Member.



                 The said Committee shall oversee the management of

                 the temple and its properties by the petitioner-

                 society and shall be entitled to advise the said

                 society on matters relating to the management of

                 the temple and its properties.

                 8.         The Chairman shall be paid a remuneration of

                             ` One Lakh per month from the temple funds.

                 9.         This   order   is   without   prejudice   to   the

                                        rights and contentions of the parties at the time

                               of hearing of the Special Leave Petition.

                 10.        The Committee will be at liberty to apply to

                                             this Court in the event it becomes necessary to do

                 so.

                 11.        The I.A.is disposed of in the above terms.




                (Sheetal Dhingra)                                                                          (Juginder Kaur)
                   COURT MASTER                                                                        Assistant Registrar
 

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ISKCON Mumbai’s petition to vacate status quo refused

ISKCON Bangalore to continue management of the temple on Hare Krishna Hill

By: Chanchalapathi Dasa

Justice Raveendran

For transparency a committee headed by Justice Raveendran will oversee and advice the management of the temple

ISKCON Bangalore and ISKCON Mumbai have been litigating for the past twelve years about who owns the famous ISKCON temple on Hare Krishna Hill in Rajajinagar, Bangalore.

The Supreme Court bench consisting of Justice Altamus Kabir and Justice Cyriac Joseph had given a status quo order on July 5^th 2011 allowing the plaintiff society (ISKCON Bangalore) to continue management of the affairs of the temple till further orders.

Stoka Krishna Das

In response to this, ISKCON Mumbai filed an Interim Application appealing to vacate the status quo order and to permit a Supervisory Committee of ISKCON Mumbai to supervise the affairs of ISKCON Bangalore temple. The Supreme Court bench consisting of Justice Altamus Kabir, Justice Surendra Singh Nijjar and Justice J Chalameswar heard this interim application on Dec 14^th, 2011 and declined to vacate the status quo order and disallowed the Supervisory Committee of ISKCON Mumbai. The bench confirmed that ISKCON Bangalore shall continue to oversee the affairs of the temple on Hare Krishna Hill.  And for the sake of transparency and to oversee and advice the management of the temple, the bench ordered formation of a committee headed by the retired Supreme Court judge, Justice Raveendran. The committee will also consist of one representative from ISKCON Bangalore (Stoka Krishna Das) and one representative from ISKCON Mumbai (Ananda Tirtha Das).

Ananda Tirtha Das (GBC secretary)

The bench also ordered that the case should be heard for final disposal on February 16^th, 2012.

“We welcome this order of the Supreme Court and extend full support to the Committee,” said Madhu Pandit Das, President, ISKCON Bangalore.

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A different take on ‘sattvic’ food

Most Bangaloreans are no strangers to the good quality food that comes out of the kitchen at Iskcon Temple.

For nearly three years now, ‘Higher Taste’, a small bakery in Jayanagar, run by Iskcon, has been living up to its reputation with its array of confectioneries and bakery items. People living near the bakery have complete trust in the quality of these items and the affordable prices have only increased its popularity. Serving only sattvic food, that is food without onions, garlic and caffeine, ‘Higher Taste’ has a regular set of customers. One of the first things you notice in the bakery is the array of Indian sweets. Coming in all shapes and colours, they are simply tempting. There is a large variety of kaju, pista and badam sweets, apart from the traditional Bengali sweets and the temple prasadam, which is the ladoo. All of these are quite popular with the customers. One can also not miss the pastries and cakes here. A must try is the ‘chocolate truffle’, doughnuts and the various tarts and brownies, which are all made without eggs. There is also a separate counter for low-calorie sweets. In fact, one can be spoilt for choice here.  Says Arvind Chaudhary, the manager of the place, “We want to show people that even sattvic food can be equally tasty and over the years, people have taken a liking to it.” A trip to ‘Higher Taste’ isn’t complete without trying the bakery items like the veg puff, bread rolls, spinach and corn puff, cheese puff and the kachoris and samosas. “We also try to innovate and bring in new items. The ‘dhokla sandwich’, which is inspired by the veg sandwich, is very popular,” says Arvind. Being a bakery, the place also serves a variety of freshly-baked breads and dinner rolls. “We are proud of our collection of breads and there is also a good demand for it,” adds Arvind. Open on all days between 10 am and 9 pm, ‘Higher Taste’ is located at 119/A/36, 9th Main, Behind Jain Temple, 4th Block, Jayanagar. For details, call 42068110.

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New Temple Shines in the Land of the Rising Sun

ISKCON New Gaya in the Edogawa suburb of Tokyo

Japan’s new ISKCON temple, opened in Funabori, Edogawa, Tokyo this summer, has gone from strength to strength since and proven to be an inspirational hub for its congregation.
The temple, dubbed “ISKCON New Gaya” after the Indian pilgrimage and site of many of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s pastimes, opened its doors to the public with a two-day festival back on July 2nd and 3rd, as did a new pure vegetarian Govinda’s restaurant and a Vedic Culture Center.
Around 1,500 people from cities across Japan such as Osaka, Kofu, and Nagoya attended over the two days, including ISKCON Japan Governing Body Comissioner Bhanu Swami and Indian Ambassador to Japan Mr. Alok Prasad.
Leading guests to its decorated front entrance, a “green carpet” stretched around the three-storey temple, which cost 200 million Japanese Yen and is located in a largely Hindu Tokyo suburb that is easily accessibly by train from downtown Tokyo.
Devotees celebrated the opening of the new temple with a drama performance by children of the Vedic Culture School, an installation ceremony and abhisekha for the brand new Deities of Sri Sri Radha Govinda and long-worshipped Sri Sri Nita-Gaurasundara, and a presentation by Bhanu Swami. There was also a speech by the Indian Ambassador, plenty of enthusiastic kirtan, and a sumptuous feast.

The Deities of Sri-Sri Radha-Govinda rest before being installed

It’s a new start for ISKCON Tokyo, which has been through a lot since it was first established in late 1969 by Sudama Dasa and Balimardana Dasa from the USA.

“The first temple in Tokyo was a one-story Japanese-style house in a densely populated part of central Tokyo named Shibuya,” recalls Satyadeva Dasa, an early Prabhupada disciple who is originally from San Francisco but joined ISKCON in Tokyo in August 1970. “It had three small tatami rooms—tatami is a type of traditional Japanese flooring made with rice straw—with a bathroom and kitchen.”

As was often the case with the early ISKCON missionaries, Balimardana soon left Japan to open other temples in Hong Kong and Australia. Seeing Sudama struggling alone, Srila Prabhupada sent Bhurijana, Amogha, Satyavrata and Chintamani to assist him, and even visited himself on the occasion of Janmastami in 1970 to inspire the devotees and to finalize the printing of his books with the Dai Nippon printing company.

Japan GBC Bhanu Swami uncovers the Deities' eyes in the Netra Unmilanam ceremony

“Prabhupada, who was on his way to start ISKCON in India with Tamal Krishna Maharaja, Madhudvisa and others, stayed in a rented apartment one train stop away in the famous Harajuku area of Tokyo,” Satyadeva says. “This was near the gorgeous Meji Shrine, dedicated to Emperor Meji, who lived during the time of the American Civil War and was the last Emperor with actual governing powers in post modern Japan. The Shrine is set in a vast garden, which Srila Prabhupada often took morning walks in.”
Unfortunately, soon after Srila Prabhupada left for India, the Shibuya temple’s staff dissipated to different parts of the world, once again leaving Sudama to fend for himself. Unable to cover the rent, he was forced to move to a location in Hachioji, which was cheaper, but significantly further from the center of Tokyo. There, he struggled alone to keep the temple going for another year until Srila Prabhupada again sent devotees from America to help him.
ISKCON Tokyo went through other trials in the early years—closing down completely from 1975 to 1980, when its presiding Deities of Sri Sri Nitai-Gaurasundara were moved to Los Angeles—but in 1980, it was re-established and has since continued to this day.

Sri-Sri Radha-Govinda on Their new altar

The most recent temple in the Nakano area ran for over fifteen years, and became one of the top five small temples in book distribution throughout ISKCON,” says current Tokyo temple president Sanjay Krishnachandra Dasa. “Four of the top book distributors were Japanese, while many books, such as the Bhagavad-gita, Krishna Book, Nectar of Devotion, Sri Isopanishad and Srimad Bhagavatam First Canto Part One were translated into Japanese. That progress continues with the BBT Japan recently being officially established as a legal entity.” With this success, the devotees decided it was time to move into a new temple. The Nakano property was in disrepair, it was located next to a graveyard—which was considered inauspicious in Japanese culture—and like all other previous Tokyo temples, it was rented. Having its own land and building would give ISKCON official charity status in Japan, while a more official presence would draw more respect from the local community. The devotees also planned to install Radha Krishna Deities, which would be sure to attract more guests.

Distributing books at a fair in Tokyo

And so in 2001, the devotees began to work together towards their ambitious common goal, mobilizing funds, arranging bank loans, and pooling resources. An extensive property search began, which at first seemed hopeless—nothing could be found that wasn’t either too expensive or inconveniently located.
“After a three-year search, we all surrendered to Krishna’s will, and thought, ‘Let us compromise and buy whatever property comes along, even if it is not ideal,” says Sanjay Krishnachandra. “That very day, the Lord led us to a perfect property in Edogawa, where most of our ISKCON congregational members live, and where property is much cheaper than in Central Tokyo.”
Devotees moved into the new temple, and a grand opening was finally scheduled for mid April 2011. But just then, disaster struck.
On March 11th, a 9.0 magnitude earthquake struck 81 miles off the coast of Japan, the most powerful known quake ever to hit the country. Triggering 133-foot-high tsunami waves, it killed nearly 16,000 people and damaged or destroyed over 125,000 buildings.
In Tokyo, more inland, the damage was less extensive, but nevertheless noteable. A ten-foot-high tsunami struck, shocks reached 6.0 on the Richter scale, buildings shook, and the nearby Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant sustained a Level 7 meltdown. Fortunately, no devotees were hurt, the new Tokyo temple sustained only minor cracks, and the Deities of Nitai-Gaurasundara were only displaced, not damaged.
Nevertheless, manpower at the temple was drastically diminished as many devotees fled the country in fear of nuclear radiation.

Food For Life feeds refugees of the March 2011 Tohoku earthquake

“Two Japanese devotees, Kirtanisvara and Mahatma Prabhus, however, bravely continued on with their priestly services to Sri-Sri Nitai Gaurasundara, without flinching in the least,” says Satyadeva Dasa. “Their dedication and fearless determination has become an inspiration to all the Tokyo devotees, both Indian and Japanese alike.”
Meanwhile, others took the opportunity to help their fellow man. Devotees provided prasadam and shelter at the temple to around fifty Nepali nationals, who had fled from the badly hit city of Sendai, where they had been studying Japanese at the university. The selfless effort drew a grateful call from the Nepali Ambassador.
As devotees returned to Tokyo, relief efforts increased, and Food for Life Global Japan distributed sanctified vegetarian food to thousands in earthquake and tsunami ravaged areas, garnering recognition from the then Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan.
Within two months, ISKCON Tokyo was bustling again, and preparations were back in place to open the new temple, which was officially inaugurated on July 2nd and 3rd.
“ISKCON New Gaya is a great facility, with much potential for various kinds of outreach programs,” says Satyadeva. “The top floor of the three-story building is an ashram for resident devotees. The second floor houses the Vedic Cultural Center, used for various outreach programs oriented towards the needs of both Indian and Japanese congregations. And on the first floor is the temple room, which can comfortably accommodate fifty to seventy people and is home to Srila Prabhupada, Sri-Sri Nitai-Gaurasundara, and the newly installed Sri-Sri Radha Govinda. I might also add that it is no small task to have found a building in densely populated Tokyo where kirtan can be performed without disturbing the neighbors.”

Chanting Harinam in downtown Tokyo

The temple complex also includes a Govinda’s restaurant, which aims to promote social well-being through sanctified cuisine that satisfies body, mind and soul, and which has garnered much praise from the local Japanese community.
Meanwhile, Food For Life has been serving around 6,200 opulent lunches and more than 6,000 kilograms of fresh fruits and vegetables to disadvantaged people every Sunday. It also sponsors 1,000 fresh hot meals every day to financially challenged school children in Mumbai, India.
Devotees and congregation members are also well taken care of, with daily temple services, weekly ‘satsang’ gatherings, exciting festivals, and education for their children at the Vedic Culture School.
“In the future we hope to increase book distribution, outreach programs, and the active engagement of our congregation,” says Sanjay Krishnachandra Dasa. “This new temple is closer to the Indian devotee members, and has much greater potential to serve the Japanese congregation, which has historically been rather small. All in all, this institution is designed to attract a wide variety of people depending on their interests, and to be truly international with a specific flavor to serve the Japanese people.”

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