Two factions of the India chapter of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (Iskcon) are locked in an intense legal battle in the Supreme Court over the control of its Bengaluru temple, with the Karnataka society claiming total “independence” from the Mumbai Iskcon trust, the first to be established in India.
The matter was listed before a bench of Justices Altamas Kabir and S.S. Nijjar last week, but could not be put up for final arguments. A large number of Krishna devotees had flocked to the court anticipating an order.
While Iskcon’s Mumbai chapter was registered as a trust in 1971, the Bengaluru chapter was registered only in 1978.
As certain theological differences arose among Iskcon followers worldwide, it also led to a split in India. The Mumbai and Bengaluru societies have been engaged in a protracted legal battle over control of the Karnataka chapter. A suit was filed in a Bengaluru court accusing the Mumbai trust of taking possession of the Karnataka property “forcibly”.