INDIA, Apr 11 1999 - This will hopefully be the first of many briefings that I hope to provide for the benefit of the vaisnavas all over the world, who are no doubt following this case very closely. As well as keeping everyone informed, these briefings, by quoting from actual court documents, will also be able to put paid to the many false allegations that have been made by the GBC regarding this case. I shall therefore be giving this briefing in the form of answers to common questions currently being asked:

(This is quoted from the actual petition presented to the court)

Thus the court documents actually list 69 individual defendants, which are:

The GBC, the GBC secretary and 67 initiating Gurus.

Thus only those individuals who are deviating from Srila Prabhupada's instructions are listed, not the corporate ISKCON body. The GBC is listed and registered as a separate and distinct society from ISKCON, and indeed has only legally existed since 1993, when it was registered in West Bengal. The purpose of the case is not therefore to attack ISKCON, but errant individuals who are not obeying Srila Prabhupada's July 9^th directive.

This is what is actually being requested. Thus it is clear that the case is about PRINCIPLES, and following Srila Prabhupada's instructions. There is NO demand for properties or money from any particular individual. And even the demand for the resolution banning 'ritviksm' and expelling its adherents to be removed is only subsidiary to the main demands.

"Already the judge has dropped all reference to injunctions about initiation saying the court has no jurisdiction over spiritual matters. The only thing left is fighting for remaining as TP's."
(E-mail from H.H. Jayapataka Maharaja to Indian Continental Committee, dated 3/4/99)

In reality the actual OPPOSITE has happened. Since the petition was filed at the High court, there have been two hearings. At the first hearing on 25/3/99, the IRG asked for two things to be granted immediately as interim orders whilst the case is heard:

1. That all ISKCON Gurus are immediately stopped from initiating.
2. That no action can be taken by the GBC against anyone who supports the IRG position, and therefore GBC resolutions to that effect must be removed.

The purpose for asking for interim orders is so that no matter how long the opposition attempts to tie up and stall the case in the legal system, we will get some immediate relief, and do not need to wait for the case to be completely concluded before some measure of justice is granted.

Based on the above, even without waiting to hear from the defendants who were not even present at this hearing, the judge immediately passed the following order:

In the High Court at Calcutta, Ordinary Original Civil Jurisdction Before The Hon'ble Justice Sujit Kumar Sinha

"THE COURT: The ad interim order dated March 25, 1999, is clarified only to this extent that the same shall for the time being be limited to the expulsion, probation and suspension of the plaintiffs. The question as to the validity of the impugned Resolution dated February 14, 1999, and subsequent initiation of the disciples in pursuance thereof, shall abide by the result of the application.

Let the affidavit - in - opposition be filed within April 16, 1999; and the affidavit - in - reply be filed within April 30, 1999. Let the matter appear in the list as a part-heard adjourned motion on May 3, 1999."

This basically states that the judge will reserve his decision on the validity of the philosophical aspects of the GBC resolution on 'ritvikism', and the right of the Gurus to initiate their own disciples, until he has heard further arguments from both sides, by the end of the month. Rather than saying that the 'court has no jurisdiction over court matters', as alleged by H.H. Jayapataka Maharaja, the Judge has on the contrary stated the OPPOSITE. He is saying the court will decide both the issue of the validity of the resolution regarding the rights and wrongs of 'ritvikism' and the right of the gurus to initiate - this is indicated by the words - 'SHALL ABIDE BY THE RESULT OF THE APPLICATION'.

Further this also means that any initiations carried out from the 1^st April,, 1999 until the day the decision is made, which is scheduled provisionally for May 3, 1999, will also have to 'abide by the result of the application', which means that the judgement will apply RETROSPECTIVELY if the court decides in favour of the IRG application. Hence all those thus initiated will have to be considered initiated disciples of Srila Prabhupada.

Thus far from throwing out the main case - which is the issue of how initiations should be carried in ISKCON, the Judge has decided that he will give a ruling on the right of the current Gurus to initiate, and further that the ruling will apply retrospectively from the 1^st April.

This in itself was a major victory, in that the defendants main line of argumentation was that the case should be thrown out since the Judge could not decide on 'ecclesiastical ' issues. The Judge however accepted the IRG argument, that the issue was one of a registered institution following directives as required by its own constitution, and thus is covered within the realm of company law.

The Judge has simply decided therefore to give each side 2 weeks each to present its arguments, after which he will make a ruling on the granting of the INTERIM orders.

This particular lie that the IRG agreed to drop the case is being propagated particularly by H.H. Jayapataka Maharaja, as in the following e-mail message:

"Lies! ON March 22^nd I showed you that the GBC had already voted and the rescinding order was on the way by the courier. You said you wouldn't go to court, but you did anyway."
(E-mail from Maharaja to the Indian Continental Committee, dated 8/4/99)

Yet the GBC's own records show that the GBC rescinding order was passed only on March 27^th:

Thus no such rescission had infact taken place in time for even the talks.

" ... the GBC Body hereby rescinds resolution no.302, sub-section 4 - A., B., C., D., of 1999 dated 14th February, 1999 in so far as it declares the persons named therein as unfit to be members and it provides for their expulsion, with power to review the subject matter in future if an occasion so arises. [...] In the meanwhile, the GBC Body hereby empowers and authorizes the GBC Executive Committee to negotiate and discuss the subject matter with the individuals concerned and take appropriate action if deemed fit, except declaring the said persons as unfit to be members or to expel them, which action, if necessary, would be taken by GBC body itself at the proper time to be determined by the GBC Body.

Thus the GBC body can again expel the said individuals at any time, with the same swiftness and harshness with which they passed the original expulsion resolution, and which they have only now withdrawn, since they have been challenged. The action that the GBC have taken : Very quickly passing an expulsion order, then just as quickly rescinding it as soon as they realised court action was imminent, simply shows that THEY are sending a strong message that they only respond to devotees who actually stand up and fight for the truth. To therefore drop the court action on the basis of the current rescission, is simply inviting re-expulsion at a future date. The same individuals who passed the original resolution only a few weeks ago, have suddenly done a flip-flop. Yet the only thing that has changed is that they realised that there would be a fight on their hands.

Many of the GBC's own supporters have criticised this lack of adherence to principle and sincerity in their actions:

"The news that the expulsions have been rescinded is a shock to devotees, who were feeling that in among all the harsh anti-guru GBC resolutions, at least there was some sign of resolute action against leaders who are devastating the spiritual lives of so many innocent devotees or would be devotees. Now it seems as if these leaders will not only be retained, but will also be allowed to continue their nefarious activities with the blessings of the GBC, and will, side by side, carry on their court case, if they so desire.

Who will have faith in the GBC any more? If a handful of disgruntled leaders are more important than the vast majority of innocent devotees, this means the silent majority of devotees had better look after their own spiritual safety and that of the innocents - they can't depend on the GBC."

Vijaya-venugopala das,
(A leading disciple of His Holiness Jayapataka Swami, and a leader of the Persian Gulf Yatra)

Thus how along, once the threat of court action has receded, before the GBC suddenly give into other pressures?

Please look out for more relevant information as and when it is available in the next few days.