Dispute over Cardinal Nagar land baseless: Jenson James Alencherry

KOCHI: The fresh land row allegations levelled against Cardinal Mar George Alencherry by the Archdiocesan’ Movement for Transparency (AMT) are fabricated and aimed to deliberately trap him, said Jenson James Alencherry, the land owner. The organisation has alleged that a house and six cents of land at Cardinal Nagar in Kakkanad was re-registered in the names of the Cardinal’s relatives in 2016. However, denying the allegations, Jenson James said that though the family name is similar, he is not a relative of the Cardinal.

“The land and house were given to my family as part of the Archdiocese’s housing scheme for the poor in 1969. My father’s elder brother got the land and house as per an  agreement that Rs 5,000 has to be paid to the archdiocese in installment. The registration of the land could not be completed since payment of Rs 1,290 was pending. When we noticed in 2016 that the registration has not been done, the default amount was cleared and we also paid stamp duty of nearly Rs 22.50 lakh to transfer the land to us,” he said while addressing the media.

The land and property in question is part of the 40-plot housing scheme in Kakkanad which the Syro-Malabar church had developed for the housing of poor families. “The Cardinal has signed in the land deal document only as an official signatory to facilitate transfer of land. Though living in the city for more than 40 years we have no direct connection with the Archbishop. The registration of the land has been done as per the direction of the archdiocese in compliance with government norms,” he added. Syro Malabar spokesperson Fr. Jimmy Poochakatt has earlier denied the allegations of AMT.