C Shivakumar
Chennai:
Church property worth more than thousand crore in Irumbiliyur village
in Kanchipuram district allegedly exchanged hands without a title deed
and a forged document.
The 53 acres and 14 cents property belong to Roman Catholic Christians
of Kovalam and Brother Thomas of Kilachery. It was gifted to the then
diocese of Mylapore as a charitable settlement in 1920.
Documents revealed that the land was transferred to a real estate
agency by Chengalpet Diocese, which came into existence in 2002. The
diocese transferred the land to real estate firm Om Sakthi Agencies
allegedly without any title deed and based on a forged document with a
fictitious administrator of properties, a church official said.
According to a General Power of Attorney document which was accessed
by Express, then archbishop of archdiocese of Madras-Mylapore society
A M Chinappa executed the general power of attorney on August 9, 2011
by mentioning now parish priest Don Bosco, who was then property
administrator of the archdiocese, as one of the lawful agent to do
all acts deeds and things on his behalf.
But then the land was transferred to Om Sakthi Agencies by Chengalpet
diocese on the basis of a letter written by a fictitious John Bosco,
who claims to be administrator of properties of archdiocese of
Madras-Mylapore Society.
As per the letter of correspondence to Cyril raj, property
administrator of diocese of Chengalpet, John Bosco okayed transfer of
land in Irumbuliyur in Kancheepuram district.
“There is no John Bosco. It is only Don Bosco, who is named as the
agent. They have forged the documents,” says former bureaucrat and a
member of the Federation of the Catholic Faithful M G Devasahayam.
But when Express contacted reverend Cyril Raj, he said that the issue
has been raked up again. He said there has been a spelling mistake in
the document. Don Bosco signed the agreement, he said.
Don Bosco who is now a parish priest says that the whole document was
forged. “Police had come to my place investigating the case and I told
them it is a forged signature besides even the name in the document is
fake,” he said.
When Cyril was told about the allegations, he reacted that he will
talk to Don Bosco. Interestingly, the police did not investigate the
the complaint filed with DIG of police in-charge of land related
crimes by C K Dominic Savio, president of Chengalpet Diocese Catholic
Welfare Association on July 30, 2012.
Devasahayam said that the police turned a blind eye to the forgery
case. “They did not send the document to forensics department to
check whether the signature is fake or not,” alleged Devasahayam.
However, he parried away further queries over the illegal sale of the
church property. When Express contacted then archbishop Chinappa about
the sale of the property, he said he had given the power of attorney
to Don Bosco. But parried away queries regarding the sale of the land.
Chengalpet diocese Bishop Dr A Neethinathan refuted the allegations
over irregularities in the land deal. “We will come out with a
detailed report in this regard,” he said. “These are all baseless
allegations,” he stated.
Devasahayam alleged that Chengalpet diocese created a fraudulent deed
of agreement of sale executed by Neethinathan, Bishop of Chengalpet
diocese with Om Sakthi Agencies by producing a fraudulent no objection
letter.
Federation of the Catholic Faithful is seeking an independent Church
commission comprising of eminent priests and administrators to probe
the issue. The archbishop of archdiocese of Madras-Mylapore Society
could not be contacted for his reactions. The property is meant for
upliftment of poor, widows and orphan children.
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