CHENNAI: The Tirunelveli police have registered a cheating case against three CSI bishops in Tirunelveli and Tuticorin and a retired district judge for allegedly swindling several crores of rupees from a trust.
Based on a complaint by Bala Singh, principal of the Bishop Sargent Teacher Training Institute, which was founded in 1818, the Palayamkottai police registered a case against the Tirunelveli CSI diocese bishop Rev J J Christudoss, Tuticorin CSI diocese bishop Rev J A D Jebachandran , a former Tirunelveli CSI diocese bishop Rev Jayapaul David, Tirunelveli CSI diocese treasurer Selvin Jayaraj, Tuticorin CSI diocese treasurer Samuel Selvaraj and retired district judge Retinaraj, a synod member, who has been appointed as the financial administrator for the Tirunelveli CSI diocese.
Police registered a case under IPC Sections 406 (punishment for criminal breach of trust), 420 (cheating), 464 (making a false document) and 465 (punishment for forgery). Tirunelveli police commissioner Karunasagar said, "We have registered a case based on a court direction. We will pursue the case further." The complainant has accused the former Bishop and the present Bishops of conniving with each other and bifurcating the diocese into two, which was against the Company Law. "We maintain elaborate and meticulous records," Tirunelveli CSI diocese Bishop Rev J J Christudoss said. He said the records were proper and there were no malpractices. "Every year we send our account details to the central government through CSI. This year also we had sent it and there was no flaw in the records," he said.
Bishop of Tirunelveli CSI Diocese Most Rev. J.J. Christdoss appeared before the Principal Sub-Court here on Tuesday evening in connection with a case challenging his election as Bishop.
Election challenged
One Ashok from Yemenkulam in the district filed a case in the court challenging the election of Most Rev. Christdoss as Bishop of Tirunelveli CSI Diocese on May 18, 2009. As the Principal Sub-Court summoned the respondent to appear before it on Tuesday, the Bishop appeared before Judge Hemanth Raj on Tuesday evening.
The Judge posted the case to January 12 after cross examination.
The case is that the election of Most Rev. Christdoss was invalid as the election was not conducted as per the established norms of Tirunelveli CSI Diocese.
