Bylaws Adoption - Wait till NY Supreme Court Decides
BY: NIMAI PANDIT DASA
Jun 26, LONG ISLAND, NEW YORK (SUN) - Dear Devotees, Hare Krishna! Please accept my humble obeisances! All Glories to Srila Prabhupada!
Even though Ravindra Swarupa Prabhu has tried to camouflage their attempt to take over temples all over North America, their intent and reasoning becomes progressively clearer. This issue has been raised in the New York Supreme Court, which is in the process of deciding whether this "GBC" is bonafide. PLEASE WAIT TO CHANGE YOUR BYLAWS TILL IT GIVES A FINAL DECISION. To change the Bylaws to ESCAPE a COURT JUDGMENT is NOT VALID, as was shown in the Robin George Case.
Ravindra Swarupa Prabhu's letter does not address the issue of ISKCON GBC Society, a West Bengal organization, being stated in the proposed Bylaws as the "GBC" to which the Temple and its Directors need to bow to. As had been shown in an earlier article, "Bylaws Adoption: A Coup Attempt" on Sampradaya Sun, this West Bengal Society is COMPLETELY different from the GBC under Srila Prabhupada's supervision from 1970-77 or the GBC envisaged in the Direction of Management. THIS WB SOCIETY IS NOT SRILA PRABHUPADA'S GBC. WE DO NOT OWE IT OUR ALLEGIANCE. The West Bengal Society, even though made to sound alike to give it a sense of credibility, was made in 1993!!! 16 years after Srila Prabhupada's final instruction on the matter of constituting the GBC. Srila Prabhupada thru the DOM made an UN-INCORPORATED association. A loose body with no Article of Incorporation, no finances to manage, no bylaws of their own, no legal powers over Temple Presidents or Directors.... This NEW Society is a separate organization, later established in West Bengal, with its own rules, finances, jurisdiction of West Bengal, with no basis of Direction of Management, etc. You can check the annual minutes of the Mayapur meetings and look at the letterhead. It is "ISKCON Governing Body Commission Society' registered in West Bengal, 1993.
Interestingly, in the FIRST lawsuit brought by the "GBC" in Long Island, IN 2004, they submitted that they were an Un-incorporated association, established by the Direction of Management in 1970. There was no mention of the West Bengal Society at that time. Badrinarayana Prabhu, Hridayananda Goswami, Romapada Swami, Bir Krishna Goswami etc. submitted to the court in that regard under penalties of perjury.
Badrinarayan Das (Robert Morrill), himself a member of the ISKCON GBC Society of West Bengal, passionately preached about the importance of the Direction of Management as the basis of the GBC in the Supreme Court of New York in 2004,as part of his testimony under PERJURIOUS oath….(under his legal name of Robert Morrill)…. (Holding the Direction of Management in his hands)
Morrill- "This is Prabhupada, the founder of our Society, founding the GBC." ....
Morrill- "And I should mention that this document is quoted, it is referenced, it is well known. It's the basis of the decisions, the basis of our authority. Attorney of
Morrill - "It's a historical document? Morrill - Historical document that's referred to repeatedly."
Mr. Morrill and his Attorney went over the duties and powers of the GBC from the DOM, but managed NOT TO GO OVER points 2, 3 or 4 setting up the election of GBC from among the Temple Presidents every three years. The actual transcript can be the artcile can be accessed through the article "Bylaws adoption-A coup attempt".
In light of the Libby perjury trial, it will be interesting to see what Badrinarayana Prabhu has to say about it now......Whether he belongs to the un-incorporated association called GBC of ISKCON based upon the Direction of Management Document of July 28, 1970 as he stated in his testimony or whether he belongs to the ISKCON GBC Society of West Bengal formed in 1993 with NO mention of Direction of Management in it!
Much more interestingly, after almost 3 years the "GBC's" tried to change their complaint in the Long Island lawsuit to amend that the GBC stated by them is actually the WEST BENGAL Society and not the un-incorporated association!!!!! This they tried to covertly achieve without expressly stating it in their reasons to amend the complaint. The Supreme Court last week put paid to those aspirations and threw out their motion.
This desperate attempt was effectuated due to a very significant ruling by the New York Appellate court, in January of this year, stating that the complaint of ownership of the temple should be decided by neutral principles of law specifically by documents like Certificate of Incorporation, Bylaws, Deed etc. effectively terminating the aspirations of the Un-incorporated association to "ecclesiastically" overlord over the Long Island temple. Due to this Appellate court ruling, the only way "GBC" think they can control the temple and all of the other temples in North America, is by amending all the bylaws to include the overlordship of the WB Society. Only then they think their power will become legal. THIS POWER HAS NEVER BEEN GIVEN TO THE GBC; EVEN IF WE ASSUME THAT HE HAS, HE HAS GIVEN THAT POWER TO AN ELECTED GBC BASED ON THE DIRECTION OF MANAGEMENT AND NOT TO AN AUTOCRTIC BODY OF WEST BENGAL SELF ELECTING ITSELF, SELF EVALUATING ITSELF.
Now after the failure of the 1st lawsuit, this ISKCON GBC Society has attacked us with another lawsuit to remove us from the temple. (The real reason to remove us is not because we are Ritivks but something much more. This reason, not mentioned to the general devotees, will be covered in the next email.) As covered in a previous article, Landmark Lawsuit in Long Island, we have counteracted by suing this West Bengal Society for an excess of $ 1 BILLION in damages for misrepresenting themselves as GBC of ISKCON and thereby misleading the general devotees in ISKCON, causing them unimaginable harm, taking over assets of ISKCON, causing denigration to the name of ISKCON, GBC of ISKCON and Srila Prabhupada etc.
We have also asked the court to declare that this West Bengal Society be stopped from misrepresenting themselves as the GBC of ISKCON. The real GBC of ISKCON will then be elected by the Temple Presidents. Hence please wait for a result on this action before changing your bylaws. Each and every temple that changes its bylaws to give power to this West Bengal GBC Society may be left in a bind if the Supreme Court declares this West Bengal Society liable for punishment for their misrepresentations and in their attempts to take over temple assets all over North America.
The real legal difficulties being faced by this West Bengal Society members claiming to be the GBC of ISKCON will not be shared candidly with you by them. It has been my observation that the main members of this "GBC" will keep praising their "legal victories" and their "strong positions" to maintain a semblance of morale. So to provide a candid view of the legal proceedings as they unravel, we will post the legal documents soon on www.iskcontoday.org.
For any questions on these issues and advise on how to proceed, please do not hesitate to write to me at nimaipandit@yahoo.com. Already many Temple Presidents have been expressing discontent with the "Goodold Boys Club". They wish to elect a new GBC by electing from among the Temple Presidents. All Temple Presidentswishing to take part in this election can contact me. WE ARE FORMING A TASK FORCE TO EXECUTE THIS ELECTION.
If you are NOT a current Temple President but wish to enforce this election to elect your GBC's, you can register your opinion at an online petition here.
We are amazed at the groundswell of reaction already. We are at a time in ISKCON when the management structure of ISKCON is going to see a Court Directed permanent change-to be in line with Srila Prabhupada's instructions. Let us cooperate together to work with that rather than oppose the inevitable. Nothing can change the wish of Srila Prabhupada.
your servant,
Nimai Pandit das
President, ISKCON Long Island