BANGALORE: The house committee of the Legislative Assembly has given a clean chit to ISKCON by stating there was no ulterior motive nor was it legally wrong in the organisation collecting donations from public. "As long as the funds so collected in the form of donations are being used for the purpose for which it is being collected, there is nothing wrong," the committee's report states.
The 10member committee was set up in October 2009. BJP MLA Yogish Bhat headed the committee. This was following allegations made by former minister D K Shivakumar that ISKCON had not only misused the foodgrains given by the government but also denigrated the country's prestige abroad by seeking financial help, carrying the photograph of a crying child. "The committee has studied the audit report and is convinced of transparency in its financial transactions. There has been no complaint by anybody against ISKCON either about the quality of food or about any kind of illegalities," the report stated. On the sensitive issue of ISKCON's advertisement carrying the photograph of a crying child and collecting donations in foreign countries, thus denigrating the country's prestige, the committee was of the view that the CDs and photograph submitted by the complainant D K Shivakumar needs to be handed over to the home department for a thorough probe to verify the veracity.
The 10member committee was set up in October 2009. BJP MLA Yogish Bhat headed the committee. This was following allegations made by former minister D K Shivakumar that ISKCON had not only misused the foodgrains given by the government but also denigrated the country's prestige abroad by seeking financial help, carrying the photograph of a crying child. "The committee has studied the audit report and is convinced of transparency in its financial transactions. There has been no complaint by anybody against ISKCON either about the quality of food or about any kind of illegalities," the report stated. On the sensitive issue of ISKCON's advertisement carrying the photograph of a crying child and collecting donations in foreign countries, thus denigrating the country's prestige, the committee was of the view that the CDs and photograph submitted by the complainant D K Shivakumar needs to be handed over to the home department for a thorough probe to verify the veracity.