N E W S
Gurdwara GNFA Settles Court Case

May 31, 2003: MD

The court case between Gurdwara Guru Nanak Foundation of America (GNFA) and its opposition members has been settled through mediation by Retired Judge Chasanow of Montgomery County, Maryland.

Mediation is a standard procedure which offers the two parties in a court case a final chance to make a settlement instead of proceeding with the case. The GNFA mediation took place on May 28, 2003. About twenty GNFA members that were present in the court room, the lawyers and the retired judge signed the agreement.

The most significant points of the settlement are: On March 7, 2004, the entire GNFA board will resign; On that day, an election will be held for fifteen new trustees (5 contributing trustees for a five year term, 5 contributing trustees for a four year term, and 5 elected trustees for a one year term); The board will forward all eligible trustee applications to the general body for voting whill will run from 7 am to 8 pm; The elections will be run by an independent body (to be appointed); The quorum requirements will be waived.

It was the quorum requirement which prevented the election from being held at GNFA for the past two years. GNFA management claimed to have recruited a record 3,000 members. With such a large membership, the original quorum requirement of having 25% of the members present for voting could not be met. Some members of the board alleged that the membership committee engaged in fraud in recruiting. Opposition members fired off a series of lawsuits against the management - civil and criminal.

GNFA's problems climaxed when the management committee dismissed their resident Raagi Jathaa. A large portion of the membership left GNFA and eventually formed their own Gurdwara group which holds divaans in a local school.

The only case that went to completion was the one in which former Chairman Kashmir Singh (Maryland) was charged with contempt of court for preventing sangat members from entering the Gurdwara. In April 2003, Kashmir Singh was found guilty and ordered to pay court costs and ordered not to attend Wednesday evening divaans for six months. Perhaps this will be the end of GNFA's court battles.

In last week's mediation both sides also agreed that the membership dues will be raised to $21 and the membership will be validated by an independent body (to be appointed). Membership renewal is always due by the end of every year.

Until March 7, 2004, the current GNFA Board of 20 members will run the organization without passing any drastic decisions.

Once Judge Woodward, the judge assigned to this case, signs the agreement in the very near future, the court proceedings will be considered finished.

comment | go to top
home