Daijiworld Media Network – Udupi (SP)

Udupi, Feb 11: “Church of South India (CSI) has no right to manage Basel Mission Church of India (UBMC) and its properties. In a judgment that will have far-reaching impact on the administration of church properties in Dakshina Kannada, Kodagu and other districts, the Karnataka High Court has declared that CSI and the CSI Trust Association have no right to manage the properties of UBMC,” said former president of UBMC Trust Association, J W Ammanna. He was addressing a press conference here on Friday February 10.

He said that Basel Mission had been managing a number of churches, educational institutions, hospitals, and orphanages in Dakshina Kannada, Udupi, Kodagu, Uttara Kannada and Malbar region since 1825. “In 1961, vested interests made efforts to transfer Basel Mission church and its properties to CSI without the concurrence of its members. Some members of Basel Mission went to court against this. Although interim stay was in force, the order was violated, and all the churches and properties of UBMC were transferred to CSI in 1972 by creating fake documents. CSI was deceiving people and was wrongly projecting itself as the owner of these properties,” he claimed.  He accused CSI of continuing to overlook the 1988 order of the Supreme Court and High Court not to merge UBMC properties into it and not to use income derived from them.

He said that the division bench of the state High Court comprising Justice N Kumar and Justice A N Venugopal Gowda have again passed a verdict in favour of UBMC, and ordered CSI to entrust all the assets it had taken from UBMC back to it. CSI needs to provide accounts to the district judge, he explained.

Both Amanna, and president of UBMC Trust, Ronald Manohar, asked people not to deal with CSI relating to UBMC properties and warned that those violating this will be subject to legal action.

Secretary, Rev Cyril Joseph, former president, Lt M D Muddu, Newman L Issacs etc were present at the press conference.