The High Court in India’s Madhya Pradesh state has stopped officials from evicting some 150 Christian families from their homes, built on land the government leased out to their Church 50 years ago. Authorities in Betul district in January initiated the process to evict 151 Christian families and members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church after they cancelled the lease, alleging that the Church authorities violated lease conditions by misusing the land. However, the court stopped the eviction move. Until “further order no coercive step shall be taken on the residential properties,” said the court order issued on Mar 7. The copy was made public on Mar 10. Ashok Chowsky, treasurer of the church, said the district authorities cance-lled the lease, accusing the church of violating the lease conditions and erecting commercial structures on the property. He said they built some 21 shops on a piece of land. “But that was after that particular piece of land was made freehold with proper government permissions. So the allegations are baseless,” he said. “The government has no right to cancel the lease deed. It is illegal,” Chowsky told on March 11. The state govern-ment gave some 20 hectares of land to the church for charitable purposes in 1975. The Lutheran Church authorities built a chur-ch, a school, and houses for the church members. On Jan. 3, the district administration cancelled the lease deed of the entire land and served an eviction notice to all Christian families on it.