Case against Cardinal Alencherry in land scam

A court in Kerala has registered a case against the head of the Syro-Malabar Church Cardinal, George Alencherry, on Tuesday in connection with the alleged corruption in a land deal.

Apart from the Cardinal, three others were also arraigned in the case initiated by a local court in Kochi. The court also sent notices to the accused.

According to sources, the case was initiated after the court found prima facie evidence in a private petition alleging corruption to the tune of several crores in the sale of prime land of the Catholic church by undervaluing it. The other arraigned are Father Joshy Puthuva and middleman Saju Varghese.

Fresh developments came after the Income Tax department issued a notice to the church to pay income tax of Rs 3 crore in connection with the land deal. The I-T action was based on the cash transaction involved in the land deal. The church has already paid Rs 51 lakh tax as fine.