JUDGMENT
MISS PENELOPE REED QC :
Background
There is before me the hearing of part of charity proceedings concerning the charity known as the Shri Guru Ravidass Sabha Southall (“the Sabha”) brought by six of its members against the twenty-two members of the Executive Committee and the eleven trustees of that Charity.
The proceedings are brought with the leave of Mr. Justice Norris dated 22 April 2013 when he joined the Second Defendants to this claim. On 19 June 2013 Master Teverson ordered that the matters and issues set out in paragraphs 1 to 25 of the Amended Particulars of Claim be tried first with a time estimate of 2 days. He left issues relating to the misuse of charitable funds by the First Defendants to be tried at a later stage. In the end the matter was heard before me over nearly six and a half days and matters were explored which went beyond paragraphs 1 to 25 of the Amended Particulars of Claim.
The Sabha is an unincorporated Association governed by a constitution the latest adopted version of which is dated 14 December 2007. I will refer to that in some detail below but essentially the charity provides a place of worship for those who follow the teachings of Shri Guru Ravidass Ji, an Indian Guru born at the end of the 14th Century. Some of his teachings are incorporated into the Sikh Holy Book the Guru Granth Sahib (“the Granth”) extending to 40 verses and 1 hymn.
The development of the Ravidassia movement is largely agreed between the parties and can be summarized as follows. Shri Guru Ravidass Ji worked against social religious, economic and political persecution. He taught that one is distinguished not by caste but by actions. The Ravidassia sect emerged in the nineteenth and twentieth century. It is not perhaps clear whether it is a religion as such but it provides its members with a social and religious identity. It became clear during the course of the evidence that some members of the community are members of other religions, such as Buddhism and Christianity.
For a number of years there has been research into verses and writings of Shri Guru Ravidass Ji not found in the Granth. The product of this research was compiled into a book called the Shri Guru Ravidass Amrit Bani (“the Amrit Bani”) and on 30 January 2010 a declaration was made proclaiming the work to be the new Holy Book of the Ravidassias. The Amrit Bani has proved to be controversial and some Ravidassias welcome it whereas others do not accept it.
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