Legal setback for ‘guru’

A MAN who posed as a head priest of a religious organisation in England has lost a legal battle in the high court in London to strike out a case worth millions of pounds in damages claimed by former “devotees” over allegations of sexual assault and “psychological domination”.

Rajinder Kalia, 65, claimed to be a “guru” of a registered charity society in Coventry since 1986 and is said to have portrayed himself as being more than just a priest-like figure. He claimed to have divine powers, with a direct link and ability to speak with God, or manifestations of God – allegations he denies.

Seven claimants alleged that Kalia used sermons and teachings, as well as the purported performance of “miracles” to “unduly” influence their actions for many years from 1987.

“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 said in his judgment in the civil case last Thursday (16).

“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 said.

The judge found that the claimants in 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 was told that Kalia accepts that he is the head priest, or guru, and founder of the religious society “founded in the principles of Hinduism” but 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 noted.

Kalia also denies payments were made or that he forced the claimants to perform unpaid labour, in some cases asserting that “donations” of money and work were “freely advanced for the benefit of the religious society”.

He applied to strike out the case or seek a summary judgment in August 2021 on the basis the particulars of the claim are “vague, unwieldy and fail to identify the issues which the claimants wish to try”.

The application also claimed there are allegations that make no sense, with important elements “completely unsupported by expert medical opinion” and “inconsistencies”.

The judgment last week noted the overall claim is pleaded in excess of £1,665,000 with the full value likely to be well in excess of this figure 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 read.

The judge ultimately concluded there may come a time in the future for a fresh strike out and/or summary judgment application by Kalia’s legal team, but it was “premature and unjust” to order it at this stage.