Church land sale without prior sanction invites jail

The Maharashtra government has strengthened the law to prevent the illegal sale of church land. In an order issued in the last quarter of 2009, the state government has empowered the charity commissioner (CC) to award simple imprisonment up to six months and a maximum fine of Rs25,000 for trustees who seek to sell trust land without taking the commissioner’s permission. The order is applicable not only to church trusts, but all charitable trusts, including those involving other religious communities.

DNA was the first to report as early as September 2008 that thousands of acres of prime land across the country, managed by more than 200 trusts and associations of the Church of North India (CNI), have been put on sale, most of it illegally and without the knowledge of ordinary churchgoers.

An official inquiry by the Maharashtra government into the scam in 2009 declared over 20 such deals involving “bogus” trusts and trustees as illegal. It asked the Mumbai charity commissioner’s office to scrap another 18 dubious deals that were awaiting clearance.

The inquiry report, dated April 18, 2009, was prepared by VR Patil, the law and judiciary department’s legal advisor-cum-joint secretary at that time. It lists questionable property sale and lease deals in Mumbai, Pune, Hubli (Karnataka) and Gujarat. Patil’s report directs the charity commissioner to examine all the applications filed by “bogus trustees” and reject them finally “with costs and stern criminal action” against the guilty.

The state government’s order now empowers the charity commissioner to deal firmly with trustees who indulge in sale of trust properties without seeking prior approval.

The government has issued an order called the Bombay Public Trusts (Amendment) Ordinance incorporating changes in Sections 66A and 66B of the BPT Act giving legal authority to the CC, which is a quasi-judicial body to deal with public trusts. 

The amendment in section 66A reads: “Whoever alienates or attempts to alienate any immovable property of the trust without the previous sanction of the charity commissioner in contravention of the provision of section 36, shall, on conviction, be punished with simple imprisonment, which may extend to six months or with fine, which may extend to Rs 25,000, or with both.”    

Similarly, the amended section 66B reads: “Whoever fails, without reasonable cause, to comply with any directions issued under section 41AA shall, on conviction, be punished with simple imprisonment, which may extend to three months, or with fine which may extend to Rs 20,000, or with both.”

The amendments, however, do not dilute or interfere with judicial powers under IPC provisions like section 406, which deals with breach of trust. This means the police can still register cases against errant trustees as and when required.

Soon after DNA reported on the church land scam, several organisations of Anglican churchgoers requested the state government to give more powers to the charity commissioner.

Several DNA reports were part of the record that was perused by an expert committee formed by the state law and judiciary department. The latest amendments were carried out on the basis of the recommendations made by the expert committee.

The All India Legal Committee People’s Synod, CNI, which was at the forefront of the fight against illegal church land sales, welcomed the landmark amendments.

“The amendment in section 66 A will act as supplement to sections 406 and 409 of the IPC for punishing the trustees who indulge in illegal sale of our holy church lands. We are thankful to the state government for providing all the church beneficiaries with a remedy in the BPT Act,” said Sandeep Gaikwad, president of the Synod.