Conger

Moderator’s suspension quashed: The Church of England Newspaper, July 29, 2011 p 6. July 28, 2011

Bishop S. Vasanthakumar

First printed in The Church of England Newspaper.

An Indian appeals court has thrown out a Madras civil court order suspending the moderator of the Church of South India (CSI).

On 15 July the court voided a 28 June order that suspended Bishop S Vasanthakumar from exercising the office of moderator, and further ordered a return to the status quo of the administration of the CSI pending a final adjudication of the dispute.

Last month Judge Thiru Chandrasekaran suspended the powers of all “office-bearers” of the church elected at the 17 January, 2010 general synod, including the moderator, deputy moderator, treasurer and general secretary in response to a lawsuit filed by a lay member of the synod from the Diocese of Madras who argued the elections were fraudulent.

The court found that a prima facie case could be made that the elections were voidable. On 25 February, 2010 the court issued an order suspending the elections that was subsequently overturned. On 28 June the court issued a second order suspending the elections, which was also overturned.

The church anti-corruption campaign group, the CCC noted the order suspending the moderator had “huge negative implications for the CSI and [put] into jeopardy several major policy and administrative decisions including the recent appointment of some bishops.”

The matter has now been set down for adjudication.

Cash for admissions scandal rocks Church of South India: The Church of England Newspaper, July 22, 2011 p 5. July 24, 2011

The Bishop-elect in South Kerala, the Rev. A. Dharmaraj Rasalam

First published in The Church of England Newspaper.

Officials of the Diocese of South Kerala have been accused by an Indian television network of selling admissions to a church-affiliated medical school.  The scandal over the sale of admissions has prompted a walkout of the opposition in the Kerala Assembly and appears to have implicated leaders of the Church of South India (CSI) in another corruption scandal.

Last week the Asianet broadcasting network reported that it obtained a list of 50 students admitted to the church-affiliated Dr Somervell Memorial Medical College located on the grounds of the London Missionary Society (LMS) hospital in Karakonam.  However, the admissions list was drawn up two days before students sat for their entrance exams.

A reporter for Asianet, posing as an official of the Church of South India (CSI), contacted the students on the list and learned that each had made cash payments of up to Rs 50 lakh (£70,000) for a place in the college.  However, the payments were not considered tuition payments and were “off the books.”

Asianet reported that “All those who spoke to us admitted the money was accepted by the CSI management without providing any receipt.”

The funds were collected by “the treasurer of CSI located at the CSI headquarters at LMS in cash. The applicants were clearly told the amount was just a token and annual fees should be paid in extra,” the broadcast said.

After the story was aired, reporters descended upon the LMS compound.  An Asianet reporter and cameraman were allegedly assaulted and had their cameras smashed.  The attack prompted other journalists to visit the hospital, and in the ensuing mêlée police beat a reporter for India Vision TV.

On July 15, the leftist members of the Kerela Assembly walked out in protest.   The Leader of Opposition and former chief minister V.S. Achuthanandan told the state’s Chief Minister, Oommen Chandy, the scandal “should should have been more seriously viewed by you and you failed to come out with any strong measures.

In response to the allegations made in the Asianet broadcast and in the subsequent fracas, Mr. Chandy said his government would investigate the affair.

The cash for admissions scandal comes at a difficult time for the diocese, which is currently without a bishop.  In December, Bishop J.W. Gladstone retired as Bishop in South Kerala and Moderator of the CSI.  The principal of the Kerala United Seminary, the Rev. Dr. G. Sobhanam—who was also vice-chairman of the medical school’s board, was subsequently elected by the diocesan synod and confirmed by the CSI’s general synod as the new bishop.  However, Bishop-elect Sobhanam died on March 26, 2011.

The runner up in the election, the Rev. Dharmaraj Rasalam, was appointed bishop of the diocese last month in place of Dr. Sobhanam, and will be consecrated on July 23.  Anti-corruption activists are hopeful the new bishop will clean up the diocese.

The lay-led anti-corruption group, the CCC stated this latest scandal is “an unprecedented opportunity to clean up the massive corruption in medical admissions and boost the finances of the diocese should he choose to do so. The big question is whether he has both the motivation and the ability to take on such a challenge.”

The CCC stated that “selling seats in educational institutions is a major source of corruption within the CSI. It not only weakens the moral fibre of the church and those who administer it but also deprives the institution of crores of rupees that would have otherwise come to it every year.”

CSI moderator suspended: The Church of England Newspaper, July 21, 2011. July 22, 2011

Bishop S Vasanthakumar

First printed in The Church of England Newspaper.

A civil court in Madras has suspended Bishop S. Vasanthakumar from exercising the office of moderator of the Church of South India (CSI).

On June 28, Judge Thiru Chandrasekaran suspending the powers of all “office-bearers” of the church elected at the January 17, 2010 general synod, while the City Civil Court in Chennai reviews the legality of the elections.  The court heard an emergency motion from the CSI on July 6 seeking to vacate the order, but Judge Chandrasekaran declined to modify the injunction and has set the matter down for hearing on July 15.

On Jan 17, 2010 the 32^nd session of the CSI general synod met in Courtallam in Tamil Nadu and elected a moderator, deputy moderator, general secretary and treasurer.  Before the election was held, however, a court in Karnataka issued an injunction disqualifying Bishop Vasanthakumar from attending the meeting and standing for election.

However, a judge in Madras issued a second order permitting Bishop Vasanthakumar to attend.  The synod Reference Committee agreed to allow him to attend the meeting, but withheld his right to vote.  The bishop contested the election for moderator and was subsequently elected.

Immediately after the election, synod member Albert Jeyaraj brought suit asking the election be voided as it did not conform to the CSI’s constitution.  Mr. Jeyaraj, a lay member of synod from the Diocese of Madras, stated the election was improper as votes for proxy were allowed—though forbidden by the CSI constitution.  He also alleged that those exercising the proxy votes, allegedly on behalf of Bishop Vasanthakumar, were amongst those facing criminal indictment for defrauding the Episcopal Relief and Development Fund of aid money sent to India in the wake of the Indian Ocean Tsunami.

On Feb 25, 2010 the court granted an injunction suspending the election, but the CSI succeeded in overturning the first order.  The second injunction, however, makes voidable all of the CSI senior management’s civil actions.

The church anti-corruption campaign group, the CCC welcomed the decision, noting the “ruling has huge negative implications for the CSI and puts into jeopardy several major policy and administrative decisions including the recent appointment of some bishops.”

Indian bishops to adopt code of conduct: The Church of England Newspaper, July 1, 2011 p 8. July 3, 2011

Bishop S. Vasanthakumar, Moderator of the CSI

First published in The Church of England Newspaper.

The Moderator of the Church of South India has called for the creation of a code of conduct to govern bishops.

Speaking at the National Consultation on Ecclesiology held at the Ecumenical Christian Centre in Bangalore on from June 14, Bishop S. Vasanthakumar stated the Church of South India “needs to establish a system of governance which is fair, transparent and accountable. In order to meet this challenge the Bishops have taken a decision to bring out a ‘Code of Conduct’ for both the Bishops in active service and the Bishops who have retired.”

Bishop Vasanthakumar announced he had appointed four bishops: Dr. Surya Prakash, Dr. J.S. Sadananda,  K.G. Daniel and Paul Vasanthakumar to prepare a draft code for discussion at the next meeting of the House of Bishops.

“Serious discussion is underway” within the House of Bishops to create a “cell for redressal of grievances” independent of the current church court structure, Bishop Vasanthakumar said.

The court of grievances was needed, he said, as “one of the severest criticism leveled against the church [was] that there is no mechanism available in the church for the redressal of grievances” against bishops.

Questions about the priest’s conduct could be brought to the attention of his bishop, but allegations of misconduct by a bishop were subject to an unwieldy canonical process, he said.

Anti-corruption activists welcomed the moderator’s call for a mechanism to keep bishops honest.  However, the CCC, the Christ-Centered Coalition—a leading anti-corruption lay association in the CSI, urged the bishops to give lay leaders a voice in the creation of the code of conduct.

The asked the bishops to “include respected lay CSI members and those who have been advocating good governance in the church in drafting both the code of conduct and the redressal mechanism.”

The warrant for lay involvement in clergy discipline was Biblical, they said.  “The church that Jesus added people to at the beginning was a ‘called out’ or ‘gathered’ church where no clergy-laity distinction existed,” the CCC said.

Abuse of office has been an on-going problem in the CSI for the past decade from the arrest and imprisonment of Bishop M. I. Kesari of the Diocese of Kannyakumari in 2000 for corruption and contempt after he defied a court order not to declare the outcome of an election allegedly rigged by his supporters to the recent theft of disaster relief funds by the former CSI Secretary General Dr. Pauline Sathiamurthy following the Indian Ocean Tsunami.  Half a dozen corruption cases are pending against sitting bishops in the CSI, including one against Bishop Vasanthakumar.

Bishop denies corruption allegations over hospital sale: The Church of England Newspaper, June 3, 2011 p 8. June 5, 2011

Bishop P.J. Lawrence celebrating the St Werbergh's deal in Nandyal

First published in The Church of England Newspaper.

The Bishop in Nandyal has denied accusations leveled by the General Secretary of the Church of South India that he had abused his authority by granting a 40 year lease on a church hospital.

In a spirited exchange of letters, Bishop P.J. Lawrence said he was “shocked” by the rush to judgment made by the General Secretary, while the General Secretary Mr. M.M. Philip said he was “really shocked” the bishop would have signed the deal without the approval of the Synod.

On March 31, the CCC, a lay led advocacy group that has led the charge against corruption in the Church of South India, released a statement implicating Bishop Lawrence in a sweetheart deal that “virtually gifted” St. Werburgh’s Hospital to a foreign controlled “private limited company.”

Bishop Lawrence was accused of granting a 30 year lease on the hospital, built in 1931 by the SPG and valued at £8.5 million, in exchange for payments of “15 per cent of net surplus” from the operations or a minimum of Rs 25,000 (£350) per year.

The CCC claimed that “no payments to the CSI are likely to  materialize” from the deal as “sole control over accounting” was given to the firm acquiring the hospital, which also had the right to deduct from its payments “any outstanding liabilities” at the time of the takeover.

On April 8, Mr. Philip wrote Bishop Lawrence stated he was surprised by the deal and ordered the bishop to “cancel the agreement.”

The bishop replied on April 22.  St. Wergurgh’s was a “dying mission hospital” that was a drain on the limited resources available to his “poor rural diocese,” he said, adding that he had emailed a copy of the proposed lease to the CSI headquarters in Madras in September.  Having had no reply, he “took it for granted there is no objection from the CSI Synod.”

The bishop stated he was willing to re-negotiate the deal if the CSI Synod was unhappy with the terms Bishop Lawrence was able to obtain, but “there was no question of cancelling the agreement.”

Bishop Lawrence also denounced the tone and tenor of General Secretary’s letter.  “Your one unilateral letter has destroyed my unblemished reputation of 40 years ordained ministry and five years of episcopal ministry,” he said.

In a letter dated April 27 in reply, Mr. Philip said he was “very sorry for the inconvenience” caused by the dispute, but held fast in his demand the bishop cancel the agreement, or produce new terms acceptable to the CSI’s property management committee.

In a statement released on May 7, the CCC urged the CSI synod not to be swayed by the bishop’s blandishments as there was “a more sinister design involved than meets the eye.”

Criminal indictment handed down against Bishop Dorai: The Church of England Newspaper, June 3, 2011 p 8. June 4, 2011

Bishop Dorai (centre) after his release on bail last year

First published in The Church of England Newspaper.

The Crime Branch-CID of the Tamil Nadu Police has filed a 500 page charge sheet with the Chief Magistrate in Coimbatore, stating the Bishop in Coimbatore of the Church of South India, the Rt. Rev. Manickam Dorai, his two brothers, and four other accomplices with defrauding his diocese of over £500,000.

The May 17 indictment of Bishop Dorai, follows upon an Oct 2010 report by an auditing team led by retired Karnataka High Court Justice Michael Saldhana, former Karnataka Director General of Police A J Anandan and bank auditor C E Sarasam that found substantial evidence of criminal behavior by the bishop.

It said Bishop Dorai had pledged diocesan bank accounts, trust funds and pension funds as collateral for personal loans, sold admissions to diocesan schools, took kickbacks on building contracts and diverted diocesan funds for his personal use.  They found the bishop had authorized the sale of diocesan property to real estate developers at approximately 20 per cent of their market value, in return for what the committee believes were kickbacks from the real estate developers.

“These transactions are not a mere case of mismanagement but point to rank dishonesty and criminality,” the committee said.

At its Nov 30 meeting of the Executive Committee of the CSI Synod declined to take disciplinary action against the Bishop in Coimbatore.  The bishop remained suspended from office, but the synod voted to allow the criminal case to guide the proceedings of any ecclesiastical trial.

Bishop denies ‘sweetheart deal’ to defraud diocese: The Church of England Newspaper, April 15, 2011 p 8. April 16, 2011

Bishop Lawrence on the way to inauguration of the 4B St Werbugh CSI Hospital in Nandyal

First published in The Church of England Newspaper.

The Bishop of Nandyal in the Church of South India has denied accusations of misconduct put forward by an anti-corruption watchdog group.  The claims put forward by the Christ Centered Campaign (CCC) that he was defrauding the diocese by “gifting” a church owned hospital to a private company were untrue, Bishop PJ Lawrence tells The Church of England Newspaper.

On March 31, the CCC, a lay led advocacy group that has led the charge against corruption in the Church of South India, released a statement accusing Bishop Lawrence of having “virtually gifted away the CSI-owned St. Werburgh’s “ Hospital “in the heart of Nandyal” to a foreign controlled “private limited company.”

On March 8, 2011 the bishop granted 4B Healthcare a 30 year lease to operate and manage St Werburgh’s Hospital.  Built in 1931 by the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel to serve the city’s poor, the CCC said the hospital’s land, clinics and rental properties have a market value of £8.5 million.

In return for the lease, the Diocese of Nandyal is to receive “15 per cent of net surplus” from the operations or a minimum of Rs 25,000 (£350).  The CCC claims that “no payments to the CSI are likely to  materialize” as 4B Healthcare is given “sole control over accounting” in the contract, and has the right to deduct from its payments “any outstanding liabilities” for the hospital at the time of the takeover.

The CCC notes the contract gives 4B Healthcare the right to “develop the entire property by modifying, demolishing or putting up new buildings, equipment and facilities” and at the end of the lease “should the CSI want to get back the property it will have to first pay 4B for all the developments done on it.”

The anti-corruption watchdog also questioned the credentials of the buyer, noting that it had been formed in January 2010 by an American entrepreneur, who “a mere three days after the deal between 4B and the Nandyal Diocese was inked,” sold a 99 per cent interest in the company to Opportunity International Australia (OIA).

The CCC urged the CSI to “consider legally challenging the transfer of the Nandyal Hospital to a private company on terms that virtually ensure the hospital and its vast land bank are lost to CSI members forever.”

“This deal sets a very unhealthy precedent as it can be used to justify similar ‘virtual sales’ of valuable CSI property elsewhere,” the CCC said, adding that “for the many corrupt bishops who dominate the CSI this novel model shown by 4B could just be the answer they are seeking to circumvent the challenges a vigilant laity is throwing at them” to stop the stripping of the church’s assets.

Asked about the allegations, Bishop Lawrence told CEN he wished the CCC had “checked with me the fact before circulating such information” as “there is no truth in what they are saying.”

The 4B Healthcare deal was “done with the approval of the executive committee of our diocese for the good of the hospital,” the bishop said, and it was unfortunate that “a hand full of disgruntled people” were raising objections.

Bishop Lawrence added that the “so-called CCC is focusing on dissidents in every diocese to malign the bishops.”

The bishop stated that “anyone, including the CCC is welcome” to visit Nandyal “and get the facts.”

Contempt citation handed down by court in Indian church corruption trial: The Church of England Newspaper, April 1, 2011 p 8. April 5, 2011

Bishop Vasanthakumar

First published in The Church of England Newspaper.

The Karnataka high court has issued a contempt notice to the Bangalore police after they failed to carry out a judge’s order to investigate fraud and corruption charges leveled against the Moderator of the Church of South India (CSI).

On Dec 9, Justice Mohan Shantanagoudar asked the police to complete their investigations “as soon as possible, but not later than the outer limit of two months” into a criminal compaling filed against the CSI Moderator, Bishop Suputhrappa Vasanthakumar, his wife Nirmala, daughter Aparna, and personal secretary Patricia Job.

On April 30, 2010 Mr. I Sounder Raj, a member of St. Peter’s parish in Kolar Gold Fields filed a complaint in the Bangalore magistrate’s court alleging the bishop and his wife had embezzled diocesan funds.  The thefts had been on-going since April 2002, Mr. Raj said, and involved theft, forgery, fraud, and the sale of admissions to church schools.

Prosecutors told the court last year that the police had investigated similar accusations lodged against Bishop Vasanthakumar and had filed a ‘B’ report—a police form that states a case could not be made against the accused.

The Raj complaint, however, was brought after the B report was filed, attorneys told the court.  Judge Shantanagoudar ordered the police to complete their review of the case and report their findings by the end of February.  The police have so far declined to act on the judge’s order, prompting the contempt notice from the court.

Corruption charges laid against the Bishop in North Kerala: The Church of England Newspaper, Jan 28, 2011 p 8. January 29, 2011

Bishop K P Kuruvilla of North Kerala

The Church of South India (CSI)’s synod has taken charge of the administration of the Diocese of North Kerala after its Bishop, the Rt. Rev. K P Kuruvilla failed to convene the diocesan council.

North Kerala has been the scene of heated debates between its bishop and lay leaders.  In a letter to the moderator of the CSI dated Jan 21, the CSI North Kerala Diocesan Laity Fellowship accused the bishop of pocketing school funds.

They alleged that since June 2010 the bishop had collected approximately Rs. 85 million rupees (£1.2 million) “through the appointment of thirty two teachers in four of the newly sanctioned higher secondary schools” in the diocese.

At a meeting of the diocesan executive committee held on Oct 20, questions about the disposition of the funds were raise.  The diocesan treasurer “admitted to have received only Rs. 15 million (£207,000). When asked about rest of the amount, bishop responded that the amount received cannot be divulged and the executive committee members [would] have to just trust him on this matter,” the complaint said.

A new diocesan council that included critics of the bishop was elected at the end of October, but the bishop did not convene the council.  Critics have charged the bishop with seeking to derail the new council so as to avoid an inquiry into diocesan finances.

Under the CSI’s constitution, if a diocesan council is not convened within 90 days of its election, its administrative responsibilities pass to the synod.  On Jan 24 the synod appointed an interim council that included Bishop Kuruvilla and directed that a new council be elected and installed by May.

A number of CSI dioceses have witnessed conflicts between their bishop and clergy and lay groups.  In May 2010 six clergy and a lay member of the Diocese of Rayalaseema staged a protest before the diocesan offices, calling for the ouster of Bishop K.B. Yesuvaraprasad.

A lay member of the diocese, Dr. Y.S. Thomas Reddy, had distributed tracts accusing the bishop of misusing diocesan funds and called for a protest at his residence on May 25.  Bishop Yesuvaraprasad requested police protection, and when the protesters arrived they were arrested for a breach of the peace when they did not disperse.

Allegations of misconduct have also been leveled against the moderator of the CSI, while a criminal investigation is underway into the finances of the Bishop in Coimbatore, the Rt. Rev. Manickam Dorai.  Last year the CSI synod dissolved the diocesan council and suspended Bishop Dorai pending the outcome of the criminal proceedings.

Two other CSI dioceses are currently under the administrative oversight of the CSI synod.  In the Diocese of Madhya Kerala the Bishop in East Kerala has been given temporary charge of the diocese following the retirement of the Rt. Rev. Thomas Samuel on Jan 24.  In November the Diocesan Council nominated the Rev. Thomas Oommen and Dr. Oommen George to stand for election at the Jan 18 meeting of the diocesan synod.  However, a dispute over the balloting has postponed the election pending a review by the provincial ecclesiastical court.

On Dec 25 the former moderator of the CSI, Bishop John Gladstone retired as Bishop in South Kerala.  The Synod has appointed the Bishop in Kanyakumair to oversee the diocese until a new bishop is appointed.

Police investigate CSI moderator for fraud: The Church of England Newspaper, Dec 17, 2010 p 8. December 18, 2010

Bishop S. Vasanthakumar of Karnataka Central

First published in The Church of England Newspaper.

The Karnataka High Court has directed the Bangalore Police to complete the corruption and fraud investigation of the Moderator of the Church of South India (CSI) and present their findings to the court.

On Dec 9, Justice Mohan Shantanagoudar asked the police to complete their investigations “as soon as possible, but not later than the outer limit of two months” into allegations that the Bishop in Central Karnataka, the Rt. Rev. Suputhrappa Vasanthakumar, his wife Nirmala, daughter Aparna, and his personal secretary Patricia Job stole church funds.

On April 30, Mr. I Sounder Raj, a member of St. Peter’s parish in Kolar Gold Fields filed a complaint in the Bangalore magistrate’s court alleging the bishop and his wife had embezzled diocesan funds.  The thefts had been on-going since April 2002, Mr. Raj said, and involved theft, forgery, fraud, and the sale of admissions to church schools.

Prosecutors told the court that the police had investigated similar accusations lodged against Bishop Vasanthakumar and had filed a ‘B’ report—a police form that states a case could not be made against the accused.

The complaint against the bishop, however, was brought after the B report was filed.  Mr. Raj, alleged the investigation was incomplete and asked the court to supervise the investigation.  The judge took notice of the earlier police findings, but directed them to investigate the complaint.

The bishops of the CSI have been immersed in a series of lawsuits in recent years.  Suits are pending against Bishop Vasanthakumar alleging his election as moderator was fraudulently procured while the Bishop in Madras and the CSI are in court over whether he can be compelled to retire.  Criminal investigations are also pending against the Bishop in Coimbatore and Bishop Vasanthakumar.

While the CSI Synod’s income rose by 50.5 per cent from fiscal 2008 to fiscal 2009, due to an increase in the diocesan assessments, expenses have risen even faster, the synod’s financial statements seen by The Church of England Newspaper show.

“Legal fees and Professional Expenses” rose 10-fold in one year, from Rs 3.3 lakhs to Rs 34.1 lakhs (£4600 to £48,000) auditors Gopal & Murthi reported.  Programme expenses for activities such as Youth Work, Sunday Schools and outreach, now consume a smaller share of the synod budget than legal expenses critics note, with only 2.4 per cent spent on programme in 2009 compared to 13.8 per cent of the budget spent on legal fees.

CSI takes no action against Bishop Dorai: The Church of England Newspaper, Dec 10, 2010 p 7. December 13, 2010

Bishop Dorai (centre) following his release on bail earlier this year

First published in The Church of England Newspaper.

The Executive Committee of the Church of South India (CSI) Synod has declined to take disciplinary action against the Bishop in Coimbatore for theft and fraud.

At their Nov 29-30 meeting in Madras, the committee voted to take no action after one of the three members of the fact finding committee appointed to investigate Bishop Manickam Dorai had offered a dissenting opinion to the report that found the bishop had abused his office for personal financial gain.  However, Bishop Dorai remains suspended from office and remains free on bail as he awaits criminal trial on multiple counts of theft and fraud.

The decision not to act against Bishop Dorai has provoked strong criticism from anti-corruption activists in the CSI.  The CCC (Christ Centered Campaign), whose representatives met with Dr Rowan Williams during his trip to India to share their concerns about church corruption, accused the Moderator of the CSI, Bishop S. Vasanthakumar of “burying” the report and putting the investigative committee in “cold storage.”

If allowed to continue its investigations if Bishop Dorai, the CCC alleged, it would have “opened a Pandora’s box of similar demands for action against other corrupt CSI bishops.”

In its 32 page report, the fact finding committee led by retired Karnataka High Court Justice Michael Saldhana, former Karnataka Director General of Police A J Anandan and bank auditor C E Sarasam, reported it had been hindered in its investigation as many of the documents were in police custody, and Bishop Dorai and his supporters had refused to cooperate.

However, the committee found substantial evidence of criminal behavior by the bishop.  It said Bishop Dorai had pledged diocesan bank accounts, trust funds and pension funds as collateral for personal loans, sold admissions to diocesan schools, took kickbacks on building contracts and diverted diocesan funds for his personal use.  They found the bishop had authorized the sale of diocesan property to real estate developers at approximately 20 per cent of their market value, in return for what the committee believes were kickbacks from the real estate developers.

“These transactions are not a mere case of mismanagement but point to rank dishonesty and criminality,” the committee said.

The bishop’s family was also involved in the looting of the diocese the committee found.  The bishop’s brother, Murthy, as head of the diocese’s Erode Womens Christian College “bled this institution” of funds by setting up a parallel teacher’s training college to which he diverted diocesan assets and encumbered college assets with loans of over £240,000 which he allegedly kept for his personal use..

“Virtually every expenditure and every facility of the CSI institutions right down to the vehicles and computers were diverted from the CSI institutions to Murthy’s personal institute which is run by his wife. Not only is this unethical and a clear case of misappropriation of funds and property running into lakhs of rupees, but it is downright dishonest and unethical,” the committee found.

In his dissenting opinion Mr Sarasam stated that while there was evidence of wrong doing, the bishop had not had an opportunity to defend himself.  He also stated that all of the frauds could not be blamed upon the bishop.  “While the truth is in the open, we attempt to find facts groping in the dark,” he said.

As the executive committee met to hear the report, protesters picketed the building in support of Bishop Dorai.  The bishop also obtained a court order barring any disciplinary action against him until after Christmas.  A supporter of the bishop had filed suit in Erode claiming the suspension of Bishop Doria had deprived him of pastoral care, and asked the court to reinstate the bishop.

The CCC accused the synod of moral cowardice for not acting upon the findings of the investigatory committee.  “The Moderator and his fellow bishops had no stomach for acting” on the report’s findings as this would lead to the question why were similar committees “not appointed to probe serious allegations, some resulting in criminal cases, against themselves.”

“No action, they decided, is the best action for the safety and security of their own positions,” the CCC charged.

Church panel accuses bishop of fraud: The Church of England Newspaper, Oct 29, 2010 p 6. October 30, 2010

Dr Williams being handed a petition by anti-corruption activists in Madras

A Church of South India (CSI) panel has concluded that a prima facie case for fraud can be laid against the Bishop in Coimbatore.

In interim report prepared by an investigatory panel given to the CSI executive committee last month concluded Bishop Manickam Dorai was likely to have committed fraud and theft of church funds.  A final report will be presented to the executive committee in December, but the interim findings determined there was probable cause to dismiss Bishop Dorai, the panel concluded.

On July 2, the executive committee of the CSI’s General Synod placed Bishop Dorai on an indefinite leave of absence and dissolved the diocese’s executive council.  The bishop and his cronies are accused of embezzling diocesan funds and taking kickbacks on construction projects amounting to over £500,000.

On May 8, a warrant was also issued for the bishop’s arrest after he failed to appear before a magistrate to answer charges he threatened bodily harm to one of the priests in his diocese.  Bishop Dorai was granted bail on the menacing charge.

The four man fact finding team, composed of retired Justice Michael Saldanha of the Karnataka High Court, the Moderator of the CSI Bishop S. Vasanthakumar, former Karnataka Director General of Police A J Anandan and bank auditor C E Sarasam were hampered in their investigation as the diocese’s financial records were in the hands of the police, and they were unable to interrogate the bishop’s alleged conspirators: his wife and two brothers.

However, their inquiries at church-run schools and colleges found ample evidence of fraud. Evidence was unearthed that the bishop had sold admissions places to students at the church’s Ketti Engineering College, that the bishop had sold diocesan assets at 20 per cent of their market value to confederates, and had diverted church funds into his private accounts.

Quoting the report, the Express newspaper stated Judge Saldanha believed the evidence was so conclusive as to guilt that it would “sustain a straight conviction in a criminal court.”

On Oct 17, the Archbishop of Canterbury told members of the Indian press in Madras the CSI was seeking to reform its canons to tackle cases of corruption in high places.  “We know there are some reported cases of corruption, which are pending in the court, and the Moderators of the churches are working to constitute a self-regulatory mechanism to look into the issue,” Dr. Williams said to the press after a ceremony celebrating the 175^th anniversary of the Diocese of Madras at St. George’s Cathedral.

Dr. Williams also met with lay activists from groups seeking to root out corruption in the church.  In an hour long meeting, representatives from the Prophetic Forum, the CSITA Beneficiaries Association, the Laity Association of the Diocese of Madras, and the CHRIST Centered Campaign urged Dr. Williams to use his influence to reform the scandal plagued church.

A 12-point plan was given to Dr. Williams by the anti-corruption activists, who shared with him examples of illegal sales of church land, selling admissions to church-run schools, taking kickbacks on construction projects, leasing out church properties at below market rents in exchange for bribes, and simony among the clergy.

In a statement released after their meeting, the lay activists said Dr. Williams was sympathetic to their concerns and “touched on topics like the nature of the office of the bishop, his concerns over the present electoral system, and the need for dialogue.”

“Suffice to say the Archbishop came across as someone who is genuinely working to get a dialogue going within the CSI on the much needed process of reform. In this effort he will doubtless appreciate the prayers and good wishes of all 4.5 million CSI members,” the anti-corruption activists said.