Madurai Bench of Madras HC suggests legislation to monitor administration of properties of Christian institutions and control illegal activities of administrators

Updated - November 22, 2024 03:00 pm IST - MADURAI

The Hindu Bureau

The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court has suggested that the Central government enact a legislation along the lines of the Hindu Religious Endowments Act and the Waqf Act to monitor the administration of properties of Christian institutions and curb any illegal activities by the administrators.

A Division Bench of Justices P. Velmurugan and K.K. Ramakrishnan also suggested that a suitable amendment be made to the Registration Act, prohibiting the alienation of properties of Christian institutions without the permission of the court.

The court said it had taken judicial notice of some fraudulent transactions made by the administrators of Christian communities selling properties illegally to enrich themselves.

The main reason for the illegal transactions was the lack of suitable legislation to control the management of the properties of the Christian society, the court said.

Therefore, to keep a check on the administration of the properties of Christian institutions, a legislation with suitable provisions to manage such properties was required, the court said.

The court said it had issued such a direction only in the interest of protection of the properties of Christian institutions, considering the extraordinary situation. It made the suggestion while hearing a case relating to a Christian Society.

Earlier, Justice N. Sathish Kumar, while hearing a similar case, observed that while the charitable endowments of Hindus and Muslims were subject to statutory regulation, no such comprehensive regulation exists for endowments of Christians. To make the institution more accountable, there must be a Statutory Board to regulate the affairs of the administration, it said.

The court sought a response from the Centre and the State governments in this regard.

Published - November 21, 2024 08:34 pm IST

https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Madurai/hc-suggests-centre-to-bring-suitable-act-to-check-administration-of-properties-of-christian-institutions-and-control-illegal-activities-of-administrators/article68894677.ece