COIMBATORE: Members of Church of South India People’s Welfare Centre went on a token fast at Gandhipuram on Tuesday for alleged irregularities, misappropriation and misuse of power by Bishop Dr Manickam Dorai.
The president of the centre, B Thangasamy said there had been large-scale corruption in the diocesan administration.
Referring to a memorandum submitted by Christian Welfare Association in Erode against M Moorthy, the younger brother of the Bishop, he said as the secretary of CSI Arts and Science College in Erode, Moorthy allegedly siphoned off Rs 1.70 crore misusing the blank cheques signed by the then treasurer of the diocese, P Swamidhas.
“To our chagrin, no action was taken against him by the diocese’e executive committee. All because of the Bishop’s patronage,” said Thangasamy.
V Devarajiah, general secretary of the centre, demanded criminal action against Moorthy and said he also allegedly withdrew Rs 5 lakh that was deposited in a bank towards endowment of CSI Teacher Training School in Erode after he left the school as its correspondent.
The Bishop seldom submitted the statement of accounts before the executive committee, which meets once in three months for perusal and approval, he added. “How could the Bishop purchase five cents of land at a posh locality like Whitefield in Bangalore? Moreover, the Bishop was in the habit of getting commissions for appointment of teachers and from contractors during construction work,” he charged.
Speaking to Express, Bishop Dr Manickam Dorai denied the allegations and termed them as false and baseless. “There is no truth in it.
They want to tarnish the image of the diocese and defame the spiritual head of over 4 lakh Christians spread across the eight districts of Coimbatore, Nilgiris, Erode, Salem, Namakkal, Krishnagiri, Dharmapuri and Tirupur,” he added.