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Kochi: Cardinal Mar George Alencherry suffered a major setback in the controversial Syro Malabar Church land deal case. The High Court has ruled that Cardinal Alencherry should face trial. The court rejected all the six petitions filed by Alencherry. The High Court upheld the lower court’s order to face trial.
Cardinal Alencherry approached the High Court seeking quashing of the Ernakulam District Sessions Court order to face trial in the land transaction case. The lower court ordered the trial of Cardinal Mar George Alencherry, former archdiocese finance officer Father Joshi Puthuva and land buyer Saju Varghese.
Earlier, Cardinal Alencherry had approached the District Sessions Court seeking quashing of the Thrikkakara Magistrate’s Court order. However, the Sessions Court dismissed the petition and upheld the judgment of the Magistrate’s Court. The case alleges that the church lost lakhs of rupees by selling 60 cents of land in Kakkanad owned by the Angamaly Archdiocese of Ernakulam.
It was alleged that the land sale was done without consulting the various committees of the church. An investigation by the church found that Cardinal Alencherry had fallen short in the land deal.
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