The most important news is that the High Court of Karnataka will finally give their verdict in the ISKCON vs Madhu Pandit case Today at 2 PM. The judges can give three different verdicts.
1. They find in Madhu Pandit’s favor, in which case it then proceeds to the Supreme Court of India.
2. They find in ISKCON’s favor, but because Madhu Pandit will appeal to the Supreme Court he will ask the High Court to grant him a “stay order”, meaning that the status quo remains and he will keep the Bangalore temple while the Supreme Court is hearing the matter.
3. They find in ISKCON’s favor, but because Madhu Pandit will appeal to the Supreme Court he will ask the court to grant him a “stay order”, but they do not grant it to him, which is likely, if they believe it to be a fraud case. (The court would not want to continue to perpetrate a fraud). He will then have to work very hard to get a petition together to bring to the Supreme Court of India, at which time he can ask them for a “stay order.”
Because of the legal complexities involved it will take him at least 5 days from the time he gets the High Court of Karnataka’s judgment in his hand to the time he can approach the Supreme Court of India and ask for a stay order. In that 5-day window it is possible for ISKCON, with the order of the High Court of Karnataka in hand, to take back the temple that Madhu Pandit usurped. Then, even if the Supreme Court issues a “stay order”, the status quo with ISKCON in possession will continue while the Supreme Court hears the case. This would be to Madhu Pandit’s great detriment.
So this 3rd option is the most interesting one and everyone on both sides is gearing up for “D-Day.” Things could be in a very different situation in Bangalore one week from today, but we will only know the direction it will go on Monday afternoon when the judgment is heard. As we have said in former texts, this is India and the judicial system is notoriously corrupt, however ISKCON is having some small hopes because the senior judge hearing the matter has a reputation for being clean and honest. If he is as his reputation states, then ISKCON will win. But there are no certainties.
More news. On last Gaura Purnima, Madhu Pandit held Rtvik “initiations” for the first time in many years. It is reported that about 150 people got “initiated.” And, this time the initiates were divided up between Madhu Pandit’s various “GBC members” and not just Madhu Pandit himself.
It is also reported that Madhu Pandit is sending his GBC men to different temples in India such as Vrndavana and Chennai to stay, and that only Madhu Pandit will stay in Bangalore for now. The thinking on their side is that with the likelihood of Madhu Pandit losing the case to be high, he wants these other centers to be developed as soon as possible so that he has a place to run to when he is kicked out of Bangalore.
Of course, this safety net will not last long as it will be easy to prove, by following the money, that these temples were established with money looted from the Bangalore temple. Thus he will put himself in even more trouble.
And the final bit of news circulating in the grapevine is about the Akshaya Patra Foundation. Apparently there is a lot of serious in-fighting going on in the board of trustees. (See www.akshayapatra.org/governance)
Trustees like Abhaya Jain (Manipal Medical group), V. Balakrishnan (Infosys) and T.V. Mohandas Pai (Infosys) want Madhu Pandit (lifetime Chairman of Akshaya Patra) and Chanchalapathi dasa (lifetime Vice-chairman of Akshaya Patra) to resign so that they can take over. Reasons cited are that Madhu Pandit’s reign has brought Akshaya Patra into a bad light because of the scandals he has been involved in. There is also the fact that these men want to use the Akshaya Patra Foundation as a vehicle for gaining influence in the government on the State and Federal level.
That is all for now. We will keep you posted as soon as we find out what happens.
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| Rocana Dasa |
