Cardinal Mar George Alencherry must face trial in land deal case: Kerala HC

Kochi (Kerala) [India], August 12, : The Kerala High Court dismissed the petitions of Cardinal Mar George Alencherry, major archbishop of Syro Malabar Church, stating that he must face trial in the land dealing case. He had sought to quash a case registered against him.
Rejecting the six petitions filed by Alencherry, the court said that it is upholding the verdict of the District Sessions Court.
The case is that the diocese had incurred a loss of lakhs of rupees by selling 60 cents of land owned by Alenchery, the archdiocese of Ernakulam-Angamaly and the land dealing was done without consulting various committees of the church.
Earlier, the Thrikkakara magistrate court registered a case against Alencherry and others and summoned them to appear for the trial. However, this was challenged by Alencherry but the appeal was rejected. Both courts observed that there is prima facie evidence that Alencherry is involved in the illegal land deal.
Meanwhile, on Thursday, the Income Tax department imposed an additional penalty of Rs 3.5 crore on Alenchery. According to the investigation, the prices shown in the land dealing papers was lower than the actual market value.