Bengaluru: The Karnataka High Court has upheld a lower court decision not to order an injunction on a dispute over the ownership of a property claimed by the Church of South India (CSI).
The Protestant Church had alleged a person had grabbed a portion of 3.25 acre property it owned on Infantry road, a prime location in Bengaluru, capital of Karnataka state.
A lower court that heard the case dismissed the Church’s plea for an injunction order saying it could present title deeds for only a part of the land. The court also noted that the Church was not in lawful possession of the property.
A British woman had donated the land in 1908 to CSI’s predecessor, Church of England Zennana Missionary Society, reports Bangalore Mirror.
The lower court order upset CSI, which then approached the High Court. The apex court said it could not help CSI as it had sought to claim more property without the proper documents.
The CSI Trust Association, ‘a religious charitable body’ filed the case for injunction against K Madhavaroyay over the property called ‘Vishranthi Nilayam,’ headquarters of CSI Order of Sisters.
The church claimed that Madhavaroyay, a ‘stranger, having no right, title, interest’ was interfering in the northern portion of the property claiming ownership over it.
The lower court observed a difference in the measurement of the property CSI claimed and what was actually in its possession. The court gave its order even though the alleged encroacher had failed to appear for the case.
The HC said it could not consider Vishranthi Nilayam’s constitution showing the measurement and boundaries as it was “their own document” and it did not have reference of a title deed for the property.
The sanctioned plan for the buildings too could not be considered as source of title to show ownership and possession, the court said. Another lease deed produced as documentary evidence could not also be considered as the name of the lessee was missing from it. The tax paid receipts and encumbrance certificates also failed to make the cut.
The case may impact the Church in India that is said to be the largest landowner in the country after the federal government. Large grants under British rule have ensured that churches have land holdings, worth billions of rupees, in every city center. More and more church trustees are now being challenged to prove ownership of properties under them.
The India Church Act of 1927 and the Independence Act 1947 have made Indian Church Trustees as the absolute owners of all such church properties in the country.
The CSI is the successor of the Church of England in India after Indian Independence. It came into being by a union of Anglican and Protestant Churches in South India. It combined the South India United Church (union of the Congregationalists and the Presbyterians); the then 14 Anglican Dioceses of South India and one in Sri Lanka; and the South Indian District of the Methodist church.
With a membership of over 4 million, it is India’s second largest Christian church after the Catholic Church in India. CSI is one of three united churches in the Anglican Communion, the others being the Church of North India and the Church of Pakistan.