Daijiworld Media Network – Chikkamagaluru (SB)

Chikkamagaluru, Apr 6: Christian community members of 46 churches of Chikkamagaluru diocese have accused Bishop Anthony Swamy and Fr Shantharaj of being involved in irregularities regarding lands pertaining to St Joseph Education Society and have demanded a probe against them.

As per sources, community members have strong piece of evidence against Bishop Anthony Swamy and priest Fr Shantharaj that they have misused the financial sources of the diocese and are directly involved in scam of land and sale of pepper owned by the diocese. It is said that on Sunday, the community members and its leaders gathered at Catholic Club at Chikkamagaluru and discussed further steps on the probe of the alleged scam.

Bishop Anthony Swamy

Community leader Stanly D'Silva

Presenting the issue Stanly D’Silva said, “The diocese owns an agricultural land at Baskal. It is a multi crop estate. In 2016, the administration of the diocese cultivated pepper and sold it. There is a huge amount of change in price which denotes that the bishop and his close aides have made money by selling the produce for higher prices. When lay leaders tried to seek clarification on it, Bishop Anthony Swamy and Fr Shantharaj are not ready to give a convincing answer.

“Secondly, without permission of the governing council, the bishop has reportedly transferred the land of St Joseph Education Society to his name and made six sites and sold them to private parties. A donor donated this land to the diocese for the construction of a school for poor children in 1984. But now, the bishop has become the owner of this land and with forged documents and signatures. The bishop also sold another 20 guntas land which was donated by an individual for the construction of hostel. The current value of this land is Rs 18 crore. But the bishop says that he sold it for Rs 2.10 crore. We suspect that there is a scam in this deal and the bishop has received a bigger amount under a secret agreement.

“Apart from this, the bishop and his close aides are ruling the diocese as autocrats. There are no rights for community members and lay leaders to express their opinions. The bishop himself is taking all decisions and does not listen to anyone. If this continues the same way, it will pave way for a riot within the community,” he said.

It is learnt that a committee of lay leaders has been formed to investigate the allegation made on the bishop and the priest. A two-week time period has been given to the bishop and the administration to give convincing answers. If they fail, as part of protest, the members of 46 churches will hold a march from AIT Circle to the Bishop’s house. They have also decided to submit a memorandum to the government for probe in the issue.

Leaders Pramod Pinto, Maria Raj, Jochim, and Alwyn D’Souza were present in the meeting.