Indian diocese to appeal against court order to pay compensation
Gorakhpur diocese in Uttar Pradesh state has been asked to pay for ‘encroaching’ on land it took on lease from govt.
Updated: September 12, 2024 12:50 PM
An Indian diocese has decided to appeal against a court order to pay compensation to a villager for occupying his land in a northern state.
The Allahabad High Court in Uttar Pradesh on Sept. 10 asked the Gorakhpur diocese to pay along with the state government a compensation of 1 million Indian rupees (US$11,910) to Bhola, the land owner who was identified by a single name.
“We are going to challenge the high court order in the Supreme Court [the top court in the country] as we do not agree with its findings that the diocese illegally encroached upon the land,” said Gorakhpur diocese spokesperson Father Justin Cheruparambil.
The land, which is close to one acre (93 decimals), was given to the diocese by the state government three decades ago on a 99-year lease agreement, the priest told UCA News on Sept. 12.
Moreover, Bhola died during the pendency of the case.
The diocese wanted the land for the expansion of the Church-run Fatima Hospital in Gorakhpur town, Father Cheruparambil said.
When the land was given to the diocese it was part of a rustic village but the area has been urbanized now and land rates have increased many-fold, he noted.
Hence, “the plaintiff [now dead] claimed ownership of the land,” the priest said.
Cheruparambil said there was no issue over the possession of his land by the diocese until 2011.
The diocese produced all legal documents, including the lease deed given to it by the state government, in the court.
However, the single bench of Justice Kshitij Shailendra not only ordered compensation to be paid but also said the cost will be jointly borne “by the appellant [diocese] and the state government.”
The Church officials suspect manipulation of government records in the case as the northern state is also known for anti-Christian violence.
Uttar Pradesh is India’s largest state and has been ruled by the pro-Hindu Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of Prime Minister Narendra Modi since 2017.
Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, a Hindu monk-turned-politician, in July this year amended a three-year-old draconian anti-conversion law, incorporating stringent provisions to curb religious conversion.
The law has not yet secured the ascent of the governor, the federal government representative, but the pro-Hindu party wants to curb missionary activities of the Indian Church.
Christians make up less than 1 percent of more than 200 million people, over 80 percent of them Hindus, in Uttar Pradesh, which is also the most populous Indian state.
