Indian Supreme Court Awards Rumtek to Karmapa Charitable Trust

From the IKKBO News Service.

New Delhi - July 5, 2004.

Today, India's highest court decided that the Karmapa Charitable Trust is the sole authority over Rumtek Monastery. This decision affirms two earlier decisions of courts in India and represents the final judgment in this case. Today's decision paves the way for the Karmapa Trust to regain control of Rumtek and install Karmapa Thaye Dorje in his rightful monastic seat.

"Though we expected this outcome, the verdict is wonderful news," said HH Shamar Rinpoche, the lineage-holder of the Karma Kagyu tradition and a board member of the Karmapa Charitable Trust. "All Karma Kagyu students can rejoice that we are now closer to the day when HH Karmapa will return to his seat at Rumtek."

Rumtek, the seat of the Karmapa lamas since the 1960s, has been the subject of dispute for more than a decade. At the death of the 16th Karmapa in 1981, the Karmapa Charitable Trust assumed management of Rumtek, following the late Karmapa's stated wishes.

A detailed discussion of the history of the Rumtek case can be found on the Karmapa Issue website.

On August 2, 1993, a group led by Tai Situ and Goshir Gyaltsab Rinpoches, with the help of police provided by the state government of Sikkim, took over Rumtek by force. Ever since, possession of the monastery has been a key issue in the Karmapa controversy.

For the last decade, the Karmapa Trust has been attempting to regain control of Rumtek through the Indian courts. Today's verdict represents the third legal victory for the Trust in the Rumtek case.

In 1997, the Trust filed its case to regain Rumtek from a group headed by Gyaltsab Rinpoche. When the case was heard, it became clear that Gyaltsab's group had no documentation to prove its stewardship of Rumtek, while the Karmapa Charitable Trust could produce minutes of meetings dating back to 1983 concerning its administration of the monastery after the death of the 16th Karmapa. Accordingly, after considerable delay caused by issues brought by the defense, in 2002 the District Court decided that Gyaltsab's group had no standing as administrator of Rumtek and that the monastery was the property of the Karmapa Trust.

Gyaltsab Rinpoche and his secretary Tenzin Namgyal, acting for Situ Rinpoche and Orgyen Trinley, appealed this decision to the High Court in New Delhi. Finding no new evidence to support a challenge to the original verdict, the High Court denied the appeal on March 19, 2003.

Today's verdict, announced at 2 pm New Delhi time, affirmed the earlier finding of the High Court. Acting on behalf of Orgyen Trinley, Tenzin Namgyal had brought this final appeal. The court denied the appeal on the grounds of significant contradictions in
Tenzin's petition that Tenzin could not explain, and also on the grounds that Tenzin's group could produce no documents to show its management of Rumtek.

Today's decision means that under the law of India, the Karmapa Trust is the rightful administrator of Rumtek and that no other group or organization has any jurisdiction over the monastery.

The decision opens the way for the Karmapa Trust to ask the courts to evict the current, illegal occupants of Rumtek and conduct an inventory of the valuables stored there. Once this inventory is completed, then Rumtek can be restored to the management of the Karmapa Trust. This will pave the way for Gyalwa Karmapa Thaye Dorje to take his place at Rumtek, thus returning to the seat established by the late 16th Karmapa.

Next week, the Supreme Court will issue official documents outlining today's verdict. At that time, the IKKBO will make these documents available to the public through its websites.