Criminal contempt case against ISKCON

In a judgment of far-reaching consequences, the High Court of Karnataka on Tuesday passed an order to initiate a criminal contempt case against ISKCON Bangalore chief Madhu Pandit Dasa, secretary Jai Chaitanya Das and four advocates for casting aspersions on the bench.

A division bench chaired by Justice KL Manjunath and Justice BV Nagarathna dismissed the interlocutory application filed by ISKCON Bangalore for a change of the bench. It ordered a suo motu contempt case to be registered against the six people for attempting to malign the dignity of the judiciary by writing letters “blackmailing” the judges presiding over the case.

“Bangalore ISKCON has made several attempts to change the bench, and the court has taken the issue very seriously. We have no other option but to pass the order to uphold the dignity of the judiciary. The Registry is directed to file a criminal contempt case against Madhu Pandit Dasa, Jai Chaitanya Das and senior counsels SKV Chalapathi, Ramesh Babu, VH Ron and Maruthi Prasad,” the court ordered.

The court added that it will not hear the main writ appeal that is still pending before it. It ordered the Registry to place the matter before the chief justice for posting the same before another bench.

“Our only intention of hearing the petition was to identify the person who has been sending letters ‘blackmailing’ judges. We gave them several opportunities but wiser counsel did not prevail. ISKCON Bangalore has been trying to avoid the bench from the beginning. Instead, it has been playing ‘bench hunting’ and ‘forum shopping’ tactics,” the court observed.

Justice Manjunath, who received the letters, passed a separate judgment explaining the facts of the case. He said, “I have been spending sleepless nights ever since the hearing started. I cannot tolerate anyone questioning my integrity. We will not tolerate any kind of effort that affects the reputation of the great institution of justice and attempts to scandalise judges.”

On August 26, advocate general Ashok Harnahalli had permitted ISKCON Mumbai to initiate criminal contempt proceedings under Section 15 (B) of the Criminal Contempt Act, 1971, against the chiefs of ISKCON Bangalore Jai Chaitanya Das, Madhu Pandit Dasa and Chanchalapathi Das for making efforts to change the bench.

He had said, “Looking at the sequence of events and nature of allegations made by the respondents, there is prima facie a case to initiate criminal contempt proceedings. If such things are allowed, it will only bring disrepute to the judiciary. Parties will begin to make unfounded allegations against judges with an objective to get the matter posted before judges of their choice.”