The Supreme Court recently took strong exception against International Society of Krishna Consciousness (ISCKON) official in Kolkata for initiating frivolous criminal proceedings against an ISKCON official in Bengaluru.
A bench of Justice Ajay Rastogi and Justice Bela M Trivedi noted that the proceedings were initiated based on a complaint filed 8 years after the incident involving bus theft, and that it was done to settle personal scores with the appellant-accused.
“If the facts of the case are appreciated, there remains no shadow of doubt that the complaint filed by the respondent-complainant after an inordinate unexplained delay of eight years was nothing but sheer misuse and abuse of the process of law to settle the personal scores with the appellants, and that continuation of such malicious prosecution would also be further abuse and misuse of process of law, more particularly when neither the allegations made in the complaint nor in the chargesheet, disclose any prima facie case against the appellants,” the bench noted.
Furthermore, the Court stated that the investigating officer did not bother to gather any credible evidence to prosecute the appellants-accused.
As a result, the bench quashed the proceedings and also made it clear that courts should not be used to settle personal scores or nurture egos, and imposed ₹1 lakh costs on the ISCKON Kolkata official.
The decision was made in appeals against a Calcutta High Court order that refused to quash the chargesheet filed against the appellants-accused for offenses under Indian Penal Code Sections 468 (forgery for the purpose of cheating), 471 (using a forged document or electronic record as genuine), 406 (criminal breach of trust), and 120B (criminal conspiracy).
The ISKCON is a Gaudiya Vaishnava Hindu religious organization founded in New York to promote Lord Krishna’s teachings.
Madhu Pandit Dasa, the main accused, is the chairperson of ISKCON Bengaluru and a Padma Shri awardee.
Senior Advocate Shyam Divan, who was representing the accused, noted that the complaint was filed nearly 8 years after the bus allegedly went missing. Furthermore, the allegations were made solely for the purpose of harassing the accused.
He added that the accused had expressed a desire to purchase a new luxury bus in the name of ISKCON Kolkata.
The final report had already been prepared, according to Senior Advocate Krishnan Venugopal, and the offences were not compoundable.
