An Indian-origin “guru”, who introduced himself as a head priest of a spiritual organisation or society in England, has misplaced a authorized battle within the High Court in London to strike out a case value hundreds of thousands of kilos in damages claimed by former “devotees” over sexual assault and psychological domination allegations.
Rajinder Kalia, 65, was the guru of a registered charity society in Coventry since 1986 and is claimed to have portrayed himself as one thing greater than a priest-like determine, claiming to be divine with a direct hyperlink and skill to talk with God, or manifestations of God allegations he denies.
Seven claimants within the court docket case alleged that Kalia for a few years from 1987 onwards used sermons and teachings, in addition to the purported efficiency of “miracles” to unduly affect their actions.
“There are triable issues to be determined in this case, with many of the factual issues being intertwined and subject to the Claimants’ cases as to the coercive control that the Defendant [Kalia] exercised over them,” Judge Deputy Master Richard Grimshaw mentioned in his judgment within the civil case on Thursday.
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“The trial judge will be best placed to deal with these multifaceted issues but will benefit from a more coherently pleaded and focussed set of claims,” he mentioned.
The decide discovered that the claimants within the case, all of Indian origin, have a “real prospect” of succeeding with their respective claims.
“By way of example only, there are serious allegations of sexual assault made in this case by four women, three of whom are only connected by their attendance at the Temple and/or being part of that faith community and where two of them describe sexual acts in a similar way.
“It is difficult for me to conclude in the circumstances set out above that there is no real prospect that those Claimants could succeed in their claims for such sexual assaults,” he added.
The court docket was instructed that Kalia accepts that he’s the pinnacle priest, or guru, and founding father of the non secular society “founded in the principles of Hinduism”, however denies all allegations of wrongdoing and pleads that the claims are “baseless and a thinly veiled attempt to extract money from him”.
“His Defence describes the claims of sexual and physical abuse as ‘fantastical and completely without foundation’,” the judgment notes.Kalia additionally denies funds have been made or that he pressured the claimants to carry out unpaid labour, in some circumstances asserting that “donations” of cash and work have been “freely advanced for the benefit of the religious society”.
The “guru” had applied to strike out the case or seek a summary judgment in August last year on the basis that the particulars of the claim are “vague, unwieldy and fail to identify the issues which the Claimants wish to try”.
The utility additionally claimed that there are allegations that make no sense, with necessary components “completely unsupported by expert medical opinion” and “inconsistencies”.
The judgment this week notes that the general declare is pleaded in extra of 1,665,000 kilos with the complete worth more likely to be properly in extra of this determine when “fully particularised and quantified”.
“I accept that this is a difficult case to plead given the fact that there are seven claimants and their claims are different and multifaceted,” the judgment reads, highlighting sure areas of complexity.
The decide finally concluded that there could come a time sooner or later for a contemporary strike out and/or abstract judgment utility by Kalia’s authorized workforce, however it was “premature and unjust” to order it at this stage.
The case is now anticipated to proceed to a civil listening to.