Kerala church land row: Broker claims total payment

Kochi: The real estate agent who brokered the controversial land deal between the buyers and the Church authorities of  Ernakulam – Angamaly archdiocese  submitted before the High Court that he had given Rs 3.90 crore to the Church, the total money of the deal,  through bank account. “The land sale agreement and the title document have clear details of the money transferred. The cardinal and other Church leaders have signed a paper in receipt of the money,” submitted Saju Varghese, the real estate agent.

However, the counsel of Shine Varghese, the petitioner,  said that the Church has not received the funds. During a hearing on the petition submitted by Shine Varghese of Cherthala on Monday,  the court  criticised the police for not registering a case based on Shine Varghese’s complaint.   Why the police didn’t register an FIR despite identifying a criminal offence?  the court asked.

The single bench chaired by Justice Kemal Pasha also criticised the state government for taking the stand that no probe was  required into the complaint on the land deal controversy. “Since financial fraud and tax evasion are involved,  the land deal can’t be considered as a civil case. It is a serious criminal case. Contempt of court case has to be registered against the police official as it is violation of the SC directive on mandatory registration of FIR in Lalitha Kumari case” the court remarked. The High Court postponed the case to Tuesday for further hearing.