By Matters India Reporter
Kochi: The Kerala High Court on August 12 said that Cardinal George Alencherry must face trial in the land deal case.
The court upheld the verdict of a district sessions court that on August 24, 2019, asked the cardinal and two others to stand trial in the case.
The court has dismissed six petitions submitted by Cardinal Alencherry.
Both the High Court and the district court observed prima facie evidence of Cardinal Alencherry’s involvement in the land deal. Although eight cases were registered against the cardinal, the district court served summons in only six cases.
The cardinal then approached the High Court seeking immediate intervention to nullify the summons and avoid the trial.
Cardinal Alencherry, who heads the Syro-Malabar Church as its major archbishop, now plans to appeal the Supreme Court against the high court order.
The criminal case against the cardinal was registered in April 2019 by the Judicial First Class Magistrate Court in Kakkanad, another Kochi suburb where the Syro-Malabar headquarters in situated. He was accused of blatant violations of the law and rampant discrepancies observed in the land deals.
On August 24, 2019, the Ernakulam Principal Sessions Court ruled that Cardinal Alencherry and two others must face trial in connection with the land deals.
The order was based on a complaint filed by Joshy Varghese, a member of St Mary’s Church, Perumbavoor, under the archdiocese.
The case centers on a 60-cent property near Bharat Mata College, Thrikkakkara, a Kochi suburb, that was sold to a real-estate broker Saju Varghese Kunnel. The cardinal, archdiocese’s former finance officer Father Joshy Puthuva and Saju were the first, second and third accused in the case.
Meanwhile, the Income Tax department has imposed an additional fine of 35 million rupees on the archdiocese.
The investigation into the Church’s land dealings had discovered that the price shown in the papers were far lower than the market rate.
The case was registered following an order from the high court single judge bench on a writ petition filed by Shine Varghese, a member of the Church.