The High Court of Karnataka on Wednesday ordered a criminal contempt notice against Iskcon Mumbai in connection with a contempt petition filed by Iskcon Bangalore.
Iskcon Bangalore had sought initiation of criminal contempt of court proceedings against Iskcon Mumbai and Balaji Subhash, who allegedly tried to blackmail and extort money from Iskcon Bangalore. He was arrested by the CID police recently based on a complaint filed by Iskcon Bangalore.
According to the petitioner, Iskcon Bangalore, Balaji had sent an email on April 11, 2011, to Iskcon admitting that he stole the pictures of judge Justice K L Manjunath visiting the temple and receiving a photo frame from Iskcon Bangalore temple as per the instructions of Iskcon Mumbai. He also admitted that he handed over the pictures to Iskcon Mumbai.
“The email further reveals that the entire conspiracy was arranged by Dayarama Dasa, Bhima Dasa (secretary) and Varada Krishna of Iskcon Mumbai. Iskcon Mumbai, through various unscrupulous means, has been making efforts to malign Iskcon Bangalore.”
The petitioner said that since the evidence now strongly points out that the mysterious packet containing photographs of the judge was the handiwork of Iskcon Mumbai and its leaders in association with Balaji, contempt action should be initiated against Iskcon Mumbai. When the matter came up for hearing before the High Court, the division bench ordered issue of notice to Dayarama Dasa, Varada Krishna Dasa, Bhima Dasa, all members of Iskcon Mumbai, and Balaji Subhash.