Cardinal must face trial in land deal matter: HC

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Cardinal Mar George Alancherry, Major Archbishop of Syro-malabar Church and head of Ernakulam-angamaly Diocese, will have to face trial in a land deal case, the Kerala high court ruled on Thursday.

Dismissing the 76-year-old’s plea to quash six cases against him, the high court upheld a 2019 order of a lower court, observing that prima facie it found some impropriety in the land deal carried out by the cardinal between 2013 and 2018.

Besides this, the income tax department also imposed a fine of ₹3.50 crore on the Ernakulam-angamaly Diocese for alleged improprieties in the deal.

The case relates to the sale of 60 cents of land (100 cents is one acre) in Kochi in 2018. While the sale deed in the case was finalised without any payment, the property was also allegedly undervalued to evade taxes, people familiar with the matter said.

Moreover, the difference in amount was also not allegedly deposited in the account of the diocese which ultimately lost ₹60 crore, the people cited above added.

The income tax department inspected related documents in the wake of fraud allegations and corroborated the same.

HT tried to reach out to the diocese for a response but could not get one immediately.

The matter came to light in 2018 when one Shine Varghese moved the high court, seeking an inquiry into the allegations against Alancherry.

A single bench of the court directed the police to register relevant cases against the cardinal, who was elected as the Major Archbishop, and also pulled them up for not doing so that year. Alancherry is the seniormost priest of the country.

After the diocese allegedly lost money due to the purported land deals, a section of the clergy and citizens revolted against the priest in 2019. Some of them even petitioned Pope Francis in this regard.

The cardinal was removed from his post but reinstated after six months.