Syro-Malabar Church land row unresolved

KOCHI: The vexed land deal in the Syro-Malabar Church has not shown any indication of abatement as a section of the people filing case in a local court demanding filing a criminal case against Cardinal George Alencherry Major Archbishop of the Church. The court has accepted the petition even as the Presbyterian Council of the Church has formed a new five-member committee to study and probe into the land deal and the economic loss for the Church.

Paulachan Puthupaara, President, Catholic Association for Justice, has filed the case in the Ernakulam Chief Judicial Magistrate Court alleging that Rs 20 cr malpractice has taken place in the land deal. The petitioner has approached the court as no decision has been taken in a compliant submitted to the Ernakulam Range IG P Vijayan demanding a criminal case against the persons involved in the land deal.

The petitioner has pleaded that the Ernakulam Central Circle Inspector should be asked to file a case and probe into the deal under section 156 (3) against Cardinal Alencherry, Fr Joshy Puthuva and vicar general Msgr Sebastian Vadakkumpadam. The case has been posted for January 29.   The petitioner has approached the court even as a section of the priests critical of the deal has sent the probe report prepared by a commission appointed by the Church in this regard to Vatican. The priests have brought the matter to the attention of the Vatican on the apprehension that Syro-Malabar Church will not do so willingly.

The Presbyterian Council meanwhile has formed a five-member committee comprising two priests and three members of the laity to hold further probe into the land deal. The members of the laity will be decided later while the priests nominated in the committee are the vicars of Koratty and Elamkulam churches. The committee has been appointed even as effort have been made to persuade the middlemen in the deal to pay the remaining amount of money to the church as early possible.