Pune's Christian community has welcomed the report submitted by VR Patil, legal adviser and joint secretary in the state law and judiciary department, on the illegal status and activities of the Bombay Diocesan Trust Association (BDTA) Ltd and demanded action on his recommendations.
Reacting to DNA's exclusive report on Wednesday, 'State report indicts bogus trust in church land scam', community leaders said the government must take steps to recover the properties that were sold illegally by the BDTA in Mumbai, Pune, and other cities across India.
Ashok Chakranarayan, treasurer, Christa Prema Seva (CPS) Ashram, Pune, said these malpractices had been going on for long. "My colleague, Santosh Salvi, has been fighting on this issue for almost 20 years," Chakranarayan said. "At every stage we were frustrated as our pleas were ignored despite documents to prove our case... Now something will move in the right direction."
Salvi, secretary of the CPS Ashram, said the charity commissioner has the papers relating to the proposed sale and redevelopment of the ashram. "We are awaiting the results now," he said. "We are still trying to protect the church properties and hope truth wins."
Anil Dahiwadkar, secretary of the Christian Forum, Pune, said church property belongs to god and no one has the authority to sell it. "Church property is to be used for the welfare of the community," he said. "Its sale by self-appointed trustees is a phenomenon in practically each and every church and mission. It is high time governments book the guilty and punish them."
Dahiwadkar said the government must also take steps immediately to prevent such cases in future and also try to restore property that has already been sold. David Londhe, secretary, Christian Trust Property Restoration Committee, said he had already filed a criminal case against PV Amolik, a BDTA member, in connection with the deals. "He applied for bail in the district court and got it," Londhe said. "So I had to go to the high court where his bail was rejected."
Amolik has now applied for anticipatory bail in the Supreme Court, "but I am not going to let him off so easily." Ashok Sonule, BDTA chairman and managing director, said recovering the land that was already sold is a major issue. "We have been fighting for justice for the last 26 years," he said. "This scam is the result of a strong nexus between the judiciary, politicians, police, builders, and the charity commission. Our trust has about 750 properties all over India and this scam is bigger than the Telgi scandal."
