IN THE HIGH COUFtT OF SIKKiM OF]DEF= SHEET Writ Petition .(C) Karmapa Charitable Versus Tae St.ate of Sikkim & others ELj== I I No. 28 of 2oo7 -` Pet.froner / Appellant E` Bespondent Order with Signature Offiee Note as to action(if any) ; taken on Order i 1-10.07 Phesent: Mr. Adhip Iyer, Advocate assisted by Mr. N.T. Bhutia, Advocate for the Petitioners. Mr. J.B. Pradhan, Government Advocate for State-Respondents. This is an application invoking the superintendence jurisdiction of the Hish Court as against an order passed on 20.6.2007 by Mrs. Meenakshi M. Rai, our present Registrar General, sitting as District Judge, Special Division-I (I/C) dismissing the application of the applicant made under Section 151 of the Code of Civil Procedure. The application was made on the apprehension that there might have been theft of the property which are involved in the suit. The suit is concerned with, and only with, the Rumtek Monastery and extremely valuable and sa-crosanct religious items lying there. #\-h, Order with Signature Office Note as to action (if any) taken on Order Before other details are mentioned it has to be stated in the beginning, and emphasized, and emphasized again, that the suit is at the instance of persons who have a long and steep uphill task to establish their right or identity to interfere with . the workings of the Rumtek Monastery, a well known and fanous monastery here. The plaintiffs, including the plaintiffs 2 and 3 support the case that one Thaye Dolje is the 17th Karmapa who is entitled to assume the office after the death of the 16th Karmapa in 1981. A Karmapa is a very high, the hichest, head of a sect of Tibetan Buddhists. This person, as was told to the Court on behalf of the applicant, allegedly resides in Kalimpong. This is said with a lot of hesitation and the hesitation can be wen understood because the self proclaimed Kamapa has apparently no papers to enter the State of Sikkin. The .plaintiff No. 3 who claims to be the Shamarpa under the said Karmapa also does not have papers for entering Si]ddm and has fifed a writ which would help him in that regard. The I F ,rfu Serial Date Order with Signature Office Note as to No. of of, action (if any) Order, Order <. taken on Order (1 I 1 II I appeared in support of that Trit before me, also appeared before the lower Court in this matter.SofarasthisCourtcanrecallthere was I II something stated at that tine about the party residing in USA at that point of tine.TheplaintiffNo.1isatrust allegedly estabfished by the earlier, i.e., the 16th Kalmapa who died in 1981. The second plaintiff is allegedly a trustee. About the tnist funds, not much information could be furnished to Court. The suitisalsofiledasmanyas17yearsafterthedeathof the 16th Karmapa.Allthes'eshow that the right of the plaintiffs, or the 17th Karmapa whom they support, need a lot of proof and substance before the Court can act even for.interlocutory purposes thereupon. It was stated in Court today that the Respondent No. 3, the alleged Shamarpa lives in New Delhi; the 'cause title is to the same effect.Attheinstanceofsuch outcasts fromSikkim,itisextremelydifficultfortheCourtto 't..|. L' Ea Serial J Date Order with Signature? Office Note as to No. of of` action (if any) Order Order taken on Order I II I II I II manipulate or delve into items of religious sanctity lying in a reputed Monastery.Anapplicationwas earlier made for inventory in this very sane suit ffled by these plaintiffs and orders were passed in tbe trial Court 'w /2001 and 2002 and also by the Hish Court on 18.06.2002 on the basis of which theCommissionervisitedtheMonasteryandfifedhis report dated 22.07.2002. Allegedly the report was ffled in Court (as alleged on behalf of the applicant) in December 2005.Thedetailsofwhatparties said before the Commissioner during his visit at the Monastery, are available in the Annexures to the present petition.The application today has been pressed around at Black Hat or Vajra Mukut which is the centre piece of all the items and which is Supposed to adorn the head of the Karmapa and I the Karmapa alone. It is a crown presented by the then emperor of China in the 15th Century .._.+1. ..`-1.`,` ^-/`-..` --A/`...`ii.` .`+/`-ar` 1:Ira DTil`:a-` T\T^+ I ''-`----`-^--``-```-`, I:T-```,-`,`-`-`-`,`,--`,`----`~ --`------,.-` -` `-`. IT a Serial Date Order with Signature Office Note as to No. ofOrder of,Order action (if any)takenonOrder prlII everybody has seen it and not everybody can see it; only the Karmapa hinself can touch it. In the Rumtek Monastery there is a box sealed by the monks, authorized by the present Karmapa (according to the persons who are in charge and in. apQssession of the Monastery now),ark who resides at present with the Dalai Lama, and those seals were identified on behalf of the respondents when the box was pointed out as the one containing the Vajra Mukut.Thepersons who were representing the respondents then said that they were not in a position to say whether the box contained the Vajra Mukut. or not but that they were only in a position to say whether the seals on the box were I II genuine and put there on behalf of the Kalmapa (the true one, who is now with the Dalal Lama) by the monks following bin.AndofthisVajraMukut, the plaintiffs would now want a pbotograph taken, under fresh Orders of Court. ?Ji` a Serial Date Order with Signature Office Note as to No. of of action (if any) Orderl Order taken on Order I1 I II( I -_ `-.III Clearly it is a tall claim and not to be - - - _-- acceded to by any Court unless the plaintiffs show 1 I that their master and guide, the purported `alternative' Karmapa, Thaye Dolje, who is not even a party to the suit, has some semblance of . right to the office of the Karmapa at present, though he is not in any manner recognized by that head, revered all over, who is the Dalai Lama himself.The Court order previously mentioned that the visual inpression micht be taken but that boxes were not to be opened. The State argues tha.t even the box containing the Black Hat might not be so easily touched by anybody excepting the 17th Karmapa on whose behalf the crown was put into the box in the first place.Furtherandotherfacts necessary for disposal of this application are recorded with `acc-ula: cy and efficieney in the order of Mrs. M.M. - Rat dated 20.06.2007, which is iinpugnedrfuerein_'ThisCourtfindsthatthesetypesof anT`liratinTi.a z]i-a made from time to time at the Order with Signature Off ice Note as to action (if any) taken on Order instance of persons who claim themselves to be the Kamapa. Leaned counsel for the State submits that .any and everybody cannot clain hinself to be the Karmapa. For those like us coming from outside Sikkin, it is easy to. understand that the affairs of a Math or its property cannot be made the subject matter of a suit by any and everybody simply by claiming himself to be the proper and authorized Mahant of the Math, without producing sufficient support, at least prima facie, for his case. The Karmapa is no less than the top Mahant for many a Monastery in Sikkim. Apart from the State the other respondents have not been served. It was submitted by the State that this is not a bona fide application and the wit should be summarily dismissed with costs assessed at Rs.10,000/-. In my opinion the State's case is substantially right and this application is in the nature of speculative litigation, which attempts to get a snap order in a thoroughly bad suit, if somehow that can be _ 1 fa Serial Date , Order with Signature Office Note as to 8:a::, ofOrder action (if any)takenonOrder i I pr1I\II The order and observations herein, however - .-::--:-----`-:.-::----=- ------tap"`.|k,# worded, are without prejudice to the rights and contentions of the parties in the suit.Theallegationsinthepetition cannot be giv taken to be admitted/and the part of the respondents since I have not permitted the filing of any affidavit in opposition.Theapplicationissummarily dismissed with costs assessed at Rs.5,000/- in favour of the State and the learned junior counsel of the applicant plaintiff, who practices in Silddm, is entrusted with the responsibility of seeing to it that the pa.yment is duly inade within the period of a fortnicht from today. (A.N. Ray, CJ) \