The Kerala High Court has asked Cardinal George Alencherry, head of the Catholic Church in the southern Indian state, to appear before a court in connection with cases related to a land sale.
The top court in Kerala November 9 dismissed the cardinal’s plea seeking exemption from personal appearance before the Judicial First Class Magistrate Court, Kakkanad, a suburb of Kochi. The prelate is facing seven criminal cases in connection with the sale of land belonging to the Archdiocese of Ernakulam-Angamaly Archdiocese a few years ago.
The cardinal is accused of selling prime land belonged to the archdiocese fraudulently without consulting canonical bodies and other concerned authorities and incurring a loss to the tune of close I billion rupees.
The cardinal had denied the allegations and reportedly admitted having certain failures in overseeing the land deals and made no gains from them.
Cardinal Alencherry in his plea said that he “is a senior citizen aged 77 years and head of the Syro Malabar Church spread over whole world, having a membership of 55 lakhs (5.5 millon).”
The prelate further said, he is “bestowed with the duty of performing religious ceremonies, rituals, including ordination of bishops, priests, consecration of churches.”