After Split Verdict, SC Considers Fresh Bench in ISKCON Temple Case

The Supreme Court on Monday said it would consider constituting a larger or fresh bench to hear a long-pending review plea in the dispute between ISKCON Bangalore and ISKCON Mumbai over the ownership and control of the Hare Krishna temple and educational complex in Bengaluru.

A bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana was hearing the matter when counsel for ISKCON Mumbai sought the formation of a fresh bench to decide the review petition. The counsel informed the court that the plea had earlier been listed before separate benches headed by Justices M M Sundresh and Dipankar Datta but had not been listed thereafter.

“We will consider this,” the Chief Justice said. The plea challenges the Supreme Court’s May 16, 2025 judgment, which had ruled in favour of ISKCON Bangalore and set aside a Karnataka High Court order concerning the disputed property. The earlier Supreme Court bench, comprising Justices Abhay S Oka and Augustine George Masih, held that the property belonged to ISKCON Bangalore. It noted that ISKCON Mumbai had failed to produce evidence establishing its possession of the disputed property.

The review proceedings later resulted in a split verdict in November 2025. Justice J K Maheshwari held that ISKCON Mumbai had made out a case for review and directed that the petitions be listed in open court. Justice Masih, however, found no apparent error in the earlier judgment and dismissed the review petitions. Following the divergent views, the matter was referred to the Chief Justice for appropriate directions, leaving the review plea pending.

The dispute dates back to 2011, when ISKCON Bangalore approached the Supreme Court against a Karnataka High Court judgment that had overturned a trial court decision in its favour. The trial court had recognised ISKCON Bangalore’s legal title and granted it a permanent injunction against ISKCON Mumbai.

The High Court subsequently reversed that decision and upheld ISKCON Mumbai’s counterclaim. ISKCON Bangalore has maintained that it independently operated the Bengaluru temple for decades, while ISKCON Mumbai has claimed that the Bengaluru society functioned as its branch and disputed its ownership rights.

The proposed larger or fresh bench could now determine the next course of the long-running legal battle over the prominent Bengaluru temple complex.