KOCHI: The Joseph Injodey Commission submitted its final report on the controversial land deal by the Syro-Malabar Church in Ernakulam on Monday. The panel was appointed by Bishop Jacob Manathodath, the Apostolic Administrator of Ernakulam Archdiocese. The Commission has handed over the report in a sealed envelope to the Apostolic Administrator, who, in turn, will submit it to Cardinal Sandri, the Prefect of Congregation for the Oriental Churches in Rome, this week.
The Commission has drawn inferences from the KPMG report, land valuation report, minutes of canonical bodies and other documents, a release said. The Commission was appointed to inquire into the circumstances surrounding the dubious land deals and financial transactions made by the Archdiocese from the period of April 1, 2013 to March 31, 2018. The Commission has found that in several instances “processes were not followed” by the Church, a source told ‘Express’. “The Commission was not appointed as an investigation agency. It was formed to study in detail whether laid-down procedures were followed in the land deals by the Church or not,” the source said.
The Committee interviewed more than 80 respondents, including the Cardinal and Bishops of the Archdiocese. The original KPMG report and the Land Valuation report are also part of the final report. The six-member Committee is headed by Director of Rajagiri College of Social Sciences, Joseph Injodey. KPMG was mandated to perform a thorough financial audit of the transactions connected with the land deals and a reputed Land Valuation firm was appointed to value the properties that were part of the land deals.