The High Court on Monday slammed the police for not registering a case on a complaint alleging irregularities in the Syro-Malabar Church land sale.
When a petition filed by Shine Varghese from Cherthala seeking an investigation on his complaint against Cardinal Mar George Alencherry, Major Archbishop of the Syro-Malabar Church, and others came up for hearing, Justice B. Kemal Pasha orally observed that the Supreme Court in the Lalithakumari case had held that registration of a First Information Report (FIR) was mandatory under Section 154 of the CrPC if an information disclosed commission of a cognizable offence and no preliminary inquiry was permissible in such cases.
FIR not registered
The court pointed out that despite receiving a complaint from the petitioner, the police had not chosen to register an FIR. In fact, contempt proceeding should be initiated against the police for violating the Supreme Court ruling. The court also orally observed that the allegations were not of a civil nature but had the trappings of a financial crime.
Senior government pleader Suman Chakravarthy submitted that that police could not investigate the complaint as it involved a civil matter. The police would not be able to probe whether the land transaction or title of the property in question was genuine or not.
