Appeal rejected over leadership lawsuit at Penticton Sikh Temple

The B.C. Court of Appeals rejected an appeal over a legal battle between factions vying for the leadership of the Sikh Temple in Penticton. The Nov. 5 decision by the three Appeal Court Justices upheld the May decision in the B.C. Supreme Court that found in favour of one of the two factions of the temple’s congregation. The two groups, identified as the Bains Group and the Garcha Group, each filed a petition after the Penticton Sikh Temple and Indian Cultural Society’s annual general meeting and leadership vote in December of 2023, which appointed 22 directors to the society. The Garcha Group accused the Bains Group of using non-members to impact the selection of directors, while the Bains Group accused the Garcha Group of changing officers of the society, the society’s registered office, the acclamation of some newly elected directors, and changing the locks on the temple’s front and office doors.
In the original May ruling, Justice Loo found that the actions by the Garcha Group were neither justified nor reasonable following the AGM. “If [the Garcha Group] was unhappy about the outcome of the AGM, they could have taken other steps, such as these petitions. It instead resorted to ‘self-help’ steps which were unlawful,” reads the judgment. The last time directors were chosen was in 2018, and members of both groups were acclaimed as directors at the 2023 meeting.