The Supreme Court on Friday held that ISKCON Bangalore was an independent legal identity under the Karnataka Societies Registration Act, which owned the iconic Hare Krishna Temple and educational complex in Bengaluru.
The Bench of Justice Abhay S Oka and Justice Augustine George Masih passed the order on a petition filed by ISKCON Bangalore challenging the Karnataka High Court order of May 23, 2011, which held that the property belonged to ISKCON Society, Mumbai.
Setting aside the High Court verdict, the top court of the country restored the trial court’s decree granted in favour of ISKCON, Bangalore.
The Apex Court put an end to the property dispute going on between the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, Mumbai, and the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, Bangalore, for the past about 24 years.
The ISKCON society based in Bangalore was registered in July 1978 under the Karnataka Societies Registration Act. It claimed to have acquired approximately six acres of land from the Bangalore Development Authority at Hare Krishna Hills on August 3, 1988, and constructed a temple and cultural complex on it using funds collected from devotees.
International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) Mumbai was registered under the Societies Registration Act, 1860, and the Bombay Public Trust Act, 1950. It was founded in 1966 by Srila Prabhupada and has its registered office at Hare Krishna Land, Juhu, Mumbai.
ISKCON Bangalore filed a suit in 2001 seeking a declaration that it was the absolute owner and possessor of the Hare Krishna Hills property. It further sought a declaration that ISKCON Mumbai had no authority to remove its office-bearers, and that ISKCON Mumbai had no control over its properties or administration.
The petitioner further prayed for a permanent injunction restraining ISKCON Mumbai and its associated individuals from interfering with its affairs.
ISKCON Mumbai claimed before the trial court that the Bangalore centre had never functioned as an independent legal entity and always operated as a branch under ISKCON Mumbai. It contended that all properties acquired by or in the name of ISKCON Bangalore actually vested in ISKCON Mumbai.
On April 17, 2009, the trial court declared that the Bangalore-registered society was the absolute owner of the temple property at Hare Krishna Hills, Rajajinagar, Bangalore.
The court restrained ISKCON Mumbai from interfering in the affairs of ISKCON Bangalore and also rejected the counterclaim made by ISKCON Mumbai and its associated office-bearers seeking a permanent injunction against the Bangalore society.
Aggrieved by this, ISKCON Mumbai and some of its associated office-bearers filed a first appeal before the High Court.
On May 23, 2011, the High Court set aside the trial court’s decree and held that the Bangalore society was a branch of the Mumbai society. It ruled that the title and possession of the Hare Krishna Hills temple complex vested with ISKCON Mumbai.
Dismissing the suit filed by the Bangalore-registered society, the High Court decreed ISKCON Mumbai’s counterclaim for a permanent injunction against interference by the Bangalore office-bearers.
ISKCON Bangalore then moved the Apex Court.