Church properties in smaller Indian cities being sold

The story so far: Churches in India hold vast lands worth several lakh crores of rupees. These lands are managed by more than 200 trusts and associations of the Church of North India. Some of these lands, particularly in Mumbai, are being sold to favoured private developers. Angry church activists say these deals are fraudulent because the lands are owned by the government and the trusts are merely custodians.

MUMBAI: Mumbai isn't the only place where church lands are sought to be sold to private developers, though the real-estate boom of the past two decades has made lands in the city the prime target. Similar deals are being struck in smaller cities and towns in Maharashtra as well as in other states.

In Nashik, for instance, several residential buildings and a commercial complex have come up over the past decade on land at Sharanpur Gaothan near a place called Canada Corner. The commercial complex came up in place of a small public library that was run by the Nashik diocese of the Church of North India. Today, expensive branded goods are showcased there.

According to a source, the Nasik Diocesan Trust Association (NDTA) had custody of these plots and sold them to various builders without the necessary permissions. “The charity commissioner's office overlooked the deals,” the source said.

The matter came to light when an organisation called the Bhrashtachar Nirmulan Samiti (Corruption Eradication Committee) lodged a complaint with the district collector.

The collector then ordered an inquiry. As a result, registration of the flats has been stalled, leaving several hundred families in the lurch.

Besides the plots at Canada Corner, the NDTA and the Nasik Diocesan Council (registration number D-2) own large chunks of property in Nashik, Malegaon, Ahmednagar, and Aurangabad. Trustees of the NDTA are said to be in the process of selling these properties, too. “The irregularities have been going on for the past 15 years,” the source said.

According to Seema Manikeri, founder of the Navnirman Samaj Vikas Kendra, a non-governmental organisation that has been fighting since 1992 against the NDTA's alleged irregularities, the trust illegally sold 29 acres of land belonging to the St Thomas Church opposite the old civil hospital. The land was originally meant to provide housing for retired priests. “The trustees even forged the 7/12 extract to push the deals through with the help of a few officials in the charity commissioner's office,” she said.

According to her, the charity commissioner has filed a criminal suit against the trust for alleged financial irregularities. The case is pending in the Nashik district court.

Another glaring example of a questionable church land deal outside Mumbai relates to the St Thomas Church in Satara, popularly known as Garrison Church. On August 7, 2004, the Bombay Diocesan Trust Association (BDTA) faction led by general secretary PB Amolik moved an application in the office of the Satara district collector seeking permission to change the status of the church's land from agricultural to non-agricultural for redevelopment. The application claimed that the church had been built by the BDTA and that it owned the property under the Indian Church Act, 1927. But the BDTA was set up in 1929 while a visit to the church revealed a plaque stating that it was built in 1869.

The BDTA further claimed that the church structure was in bad shape and as the association had no funds for repairs it should be permitted to sell the land to a developer. The BDTA even signed a memorandum of understanding with a builder from Satara and accepted a token of Rs3 lakh, according to the church's secretary, KS Devadasan. “In the proposed development map, the architect removed the existence of the grand old church and two adjoining hut-type structures,” Devadasan said.

Worried churchgoers moved the collector's office. They also produced documents and filed a caveat in court to stall the sale.

Over 5,000 such civil suits related to church lands are being fought in courts across the country. The matters involve properties worth several lakh crores of rupees held by 200 trusts like the BDTA, some of which, according to police investigators, have used forged documents and manipulated records to seek official sanction for land sales.

Take the case of St Paul's Church in Raipur, Chhattisgarh, whose trustees belong to the United Church of North India Trust Association (UCNITA), Kolkata. In this instance, a criminal case was registered at Raipur's Gol Bazaar police station by worshippers against a Church of North India (CNI) bishop, some builders, and UCNITA trustees for selling the church land along with the bungalow of its school's principal.

All the seven accused, PC Singh, bishop of the Jabalpur Church of North India, Prem Masih, managing director of UCNITA, Vinod Kumar Malaviya, bishop of the Gujarat Church of North India, Dr Vishwas Sirwaiya, secretary, UCNITA, and acting principal of Wilson College, Mumbai, MK Singh, who looks after the mission compound at Seoni in Madhya Pradesh, Christopher Tavares, who holds the power of attorney of UCNITA at Raipur, and Jairamdas Kukreja, a builder who purchased the land, applied for anticipatory bail but their prayers were rejected.