The Supreme Court on Friday gave a final decision in a long legal fight between ISKCON Bangalore and ISKCON Mumbai. The top court said that the famous Hare Krishna temple in Bengaluru belongs to ISKCON Bangalore.
A bench of Justices A S Oka and Augustine George Masih gave the decision. They allowed ISKCON Bangalore’s plea and rejected the Karnataka High Court’s earlier order, which had ruled in favour of ISKCON Mumbai.
This dispute started many years ago. On June 2, 2011, ISKCON Bangalore went to the Supreme Court against the High Court’s order of May 23, 2011. ISKCON Bangalore was represented by its office-bearer, Kodandarama Dasa.
Earlier, in 2009, a trial court in Bengaluru had ruled in favour of ISKCON Bangalore. It had recognised ISKCON Bangalore’s legal rights and had given a permanent injunction against ISKCON Mumbai. But the High Court later reversed this decision and supported ISKCON Mumbai’s counterclaim.
The case involved two religious societies with similar names and missions. ISKCON Bangalore is a society registered in Karnataka. It said that it has been working on its own and managing the Bengaluru temple for many years. On the other hand, ISKCON Mumbai is registered under the national Societies Registration Act, 1860, and the Bombay Public Trusts Act, 1950. It claimed that ISKCON Bangalore is only its branch and that the temple is under its control.
With the Supreme Court’s order, ISKCON Bangalore now officially owns and manages the Bengaluru temple.
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