The Founder-Acharya of ISKCON, Srila Prabhupada, registered ISKCON in India as a society and public trust in Mumbai in 1971. It was his desire that there should be only one ISKCON, i.e., the one he registered in Mumbai, and all the other temples and centres would be under its administrative control. This is also evident from the fact that, during his lifetime, Srila Prabhupada had opened several ISKCON temples, including Vrindavan, Mayapur, Kolkata, Hyderabad, and New Delhi, and they functioned as the branches of ISKCON India. To date, ISKCON India has more than 250 branches that function under the legal authority of ISKCON India.
The attempt made by Madhu Pandit Das, his family members, and associates to claim the Bangalore Temple/branch of ISKCON India was the subject matter of a suit filed in Bengaluru in 2001. Madhu Pandit Das and his associates claimed that they were acting on behalf of another society with the identical name. The High Court of Karnataka in its 2011 judgement stated that Madhu Pandit Das and associates had manipulated accounts, cooked up reports, etc to claim the ownership of the temple.
After the Supreme Court’s verdict the statements of Madhu Pandit Das appear to be misleading the public to believe the Supreme Court ruled on the matter of the ritvik doctrine. In the entire history of Bangalore case, no prayers were ever made by them in relation to the ritvikism. The matter was always purely about the property ownership of the Bangalore Temple.
It is pertinent to note that on many occasions prior to the court case, Madhu Pandit Das has given judicial depositions stating to be the Bangalore branch president of ISKCON society registered in Mumbai.
“While we are deeply disappointed, ISKCON India remains steadfast in its commitment to upholding dharma and truth.
“We have full faith in the Hon’ble Courts and remain confident that justice will prevail. ISKCON remains dedicated to transparency, accountability, and the spiritual upliftment of society.
“In pursuit of justice, we will be exploring all available legal remedies. Our legal team will be actively reviewing the judgment once it is made available, and we will take appropriate steps, as per law,” said Yudhistir Govinda Das, Director of Communications for ISKCON India.
Read more: https://iskconnews.org/ritvik-ideology-never-contested-in-court-iskcon-india-examining-legal-options-on-bangalore-case/
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