Exhaustive documentary proof of fabricated resolutions, forged audit reports, tampered public records and contradictory stands by Madhu Pandit Dasa (claiming to be Chairman of the defunct ISKCON Karnataka Society) and observations of Karnataka High Court Division Bench ignored in Apex Court’s previous ruling in May 2025.
New Delhi, 3 December 2025 – In a significant judicial development, a three judge bench of Justice M.M Sundaresh, Justice Prashant Kumar Mishra and Justice Satish Chandra Sharma of the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India has allowed the review petition of ISKCON India (reg in 1971 in Mumbai by the Founder and Acharya of ISKCON movement Srila Prabhupada) against the Apex court’s May 2025 judgement which ruled to recognize the defunct ISKCON Karnataka Society (reg in 1978) as the owner of ISKCON temple in Bangalore and other group of temples and trusts, while ignoring serious issues of forgery and fabrication by Madhu Pandit Dasa, his co-brother Chanchalapati Dasa, their respective wives and other associates.
The ISKCON movement was founded by Srila A.C Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada and registered by him in India at Mumbai in 1971. During his lifetime (1971-1977), he opened 8 more temples in different parts of India, all of which legally functioned as the branches under the 1971 Mumbai Society as he instructed to have only one ISKCON society in whole of India. Today, the movement has 531 branches across India all of which function under ISKCON India (1971 Mumbai) as a single unit.
In 1978, some disciples of Srila Prabhupada registered a society in Karnataka bearing the same name as that of ISKCON Mumbai Society ignorant of Srila Prabhupada’s instructions that such a model should not be adopted in India. On finding out their mistake few months later, they abandoned the Karnataka Society by not conducting any governing council meetings or conducting any activity under this society, as admitted in their own written submissions in the court.
In 1984, ISKCON India (1971 Mumbai) sent its Branch President of Trivandrum Madhu Pandit Dasa to Bangalore to head its activities. Since that time till 2001, all of them served as officers of ISKCON India’s Bangalore branch conducting wide-range of activities including raising funds for building the 7-acre temple in Bangalore using the 12A and 80G tax exemption and receipts of ISKCON India (1971 Mumbai) as its branch along with submitting the annual balance sheet to Mumbai for filing with Income Tax department.
After the temple complex was opened in 1997 and it began flourishing, Madhu Pandit Dasa, his co-brother Chanchalapati Dasa, their wives and close associates began engaging in activities contrary to the teachings of ISKCON. Upon being reprimanded and failing to get the redressal they desired, they filed the current case against ISKCON India fraudulently claiming to be an independent ISKCON Karnataka society by deceptively using the similarity in names of the two societies. After cosmetic changes to the balance sheets that were sent annually to Mumbai and filed with the Income Tax department, Madhu Pandit Dasa and his associates filed these accounts as if they were the accounts of ISKCON Karnataka Society which lay abandoned since 1978. In 2001, for the first time the defunct ISKCON Karnataka Society had its Income Tax returns filed for 12 preceding years at once.
The three-judge bench was presented with over 6000 pages of evidence by ISKCON India (1971 Mumbai) consisting of judicial depositions, correspondence of Madhu Pandit Dasa with ISKCON India head office and his letters to other branches of ISKCON India in his capacity as the General Secretary of ISKCON India, along with evidence of systematic fraud, forgery, fabrication of records and manipulation of public documents. Among the several documents and evidences, some of the key findings which the Supreme Court’s previous ruling had failed to address included:
- Self-Admissions by MPD: In multiple earlier judicial proceedings (1986-2000) prior to the filing of this case in 2001, Madhu Pandit Dasa (MPD) repeatedly admitted under oath that he was the Branch President of the Bangalore Branch of the 1971 Mumbai society and what was functioning and operating in Bangalore was legal branch of ISKCON India (1971 Mumbai) and that accounts were audited and sent to Mumbai annually, and that 80G tax exemption belong to ISKCON India (1971 Mumbai). This is apart from the fact that he was the General Secretary of the ISKCON India (1971 Mumbai) and responsible for filing of all India accounts with the government. This is very crucial since all the documents submitted by the ISKCON Karnataka Society have been attested by MPD. These admissions directly contradict his subsequent claim of independent ownership through the 1978 entity.
- Mass Fabrication of 12 Years of Accounts (1988–2000): On a single day in August 2001, 12 years of back-dated financial statements were filed to artificially revive a long-defunct 1978 society and lay claim to assets worth hundreds of crores.
- Fraudulent 1984 Resolution: The purported AGM of the defunct ISKCON Karnataka Society of 1 July 1984 – on the basis of which MPD, his family members and close associates claim to have become governing body members of the 1978 Karnataka society – is fabricated since the meeting venue was not under ISKCON’s possession until 1985, several listed attendees were not in Bangalore, and the minute book contains physically impossible insertions and mixed handwriting/typing/computer-print inconsistencies. Additionally, some of the office-bearers listed therein have testified in court that they were never a part of the 1978 society and rather are members of ISKCON India.
- Forged Audit Reports: Two contradictory audit reports personally signed by MPD and his co-brother Chanchalapathi Dasa in 2001 were antedated to create a false narrative of initially that ISKCON India (1971 Mumbai) had donated the Bangalore property to the Karnataka society and later changed to state that ISKCON India had abandoned the Bangalore branch.
- Tampering of Official BDA Land Records: Original Bangalore Development Authority files showing allotment to the 1971 Mumbai society were systematically altered, pages removed, forged documents inserted and fake seals affixed.
Yudhistir Govinda Das, Director of Communications for ISKCON India (1971 Mumbai) stated:
“The Hon’ble Supreme Court of India’s decision to reopen this matter is a significant milestone in bringing out the truth of this case and for the protection of Srila Prabhupada’s global mission. It is unfortunate what has happened that few individuals have tried to usurp the assets of the institution including the Bangalore temple and our flagship project of Akshaya Patra for feeding the young children of India. We are hopeful that, with the complete facts now before the Court it will bring justice to the lakhs ISKCON devotees and members across the country.”
About ISKCON India:
Registered in 1971 at Mumbai by Srila Prabhupada himself, the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) has 531 branches across India which are engaged in a wide range of spiritual, cultural and philanthropic initiatives in the fields of culture, wellness, education, cow protection, hunger and disaster relief, and rural development which benefit crores of people every year without any distinction of caste, gender or ethnicity. Apart from the temple complex in dispute, ISKCON India has 8 other branches in Bangalore and more than a dozen across Karnataka.