Bengaluru, May 17 -- The Supreme Court on Friday ruled that ISKCON Bangalore was the rightful owner of the iconic Hare Krishna temple in Bengaluru, ending a 24-year-old legal dispute with ISKCON Mumbai over the ownership and control of the temple and its associated property.

A bench of Justices Abhay S Oka and Augustine George Masih allowed ISKCON Bangalore's appeal, setting aside a 2011 judgment by the Karnataka high court that had ruled in favour of ISKCON Mumbai. The court said that ISKCON Bangalore is an independent legal entity and that the society cannot be treated as a branch of ISKCON Mumbai.

ISKCON Mumbai was founded in 1966 by Srila Prabhupada and is registered under the Societies Registration Act, 1860, and the Bombay Public ...