Reprieve for Indian Protestant mission amid land row

The top court in Madhya Pradesh state has temporarily stopped the State Government, from taking over a piece of land from a Protestant mission.  The Jabalpur bench of the State High Court on Oct. 7 allowed the mission of the Disciples of Christ Church in Damoh district, 15 days to file a civil suit to settle the land dispute.

Navin Lall, the Church's secretary, said the dispute over 43,560 square feet of prime property in Damoh district has been ongoing for a decade.  The land was under the Church's control for more than 100 years before . A local  man accused the Church people of encroaching on it in 2014 and he filed a court case, claiming it as government property, Navin Lall said.

The Church officials challenged the case in the High Court which suggested an out-of-court settlement between the district authorities and Church leaders. But the district officials let the matter drag on and a fresh case was filed against the Church officials this year. 

On Oct. 4, the authorities issued a notice asking the Church to remove the boundary wall of the disputed property.  Later, the Church officials approached the court seeking a stay on the wall's demolition. 

Suddenly, on Oct. 7, "the boundary wall was pulled down by district officials like a terrorist operation before the court started working at 10 a.m.,” Lall said. 

The officials acted in haste, demolishing the 4,570-meter-long wall in the morning before the top court could take up the Church's petition seeking a stay on its demolition. The case was listed as a priority, Lall said.

“The boundary wall was erected 15 years ago” and was sanctioned by local bodies, added Lall. 

Alok Jacob, a senior Church member, said revenue officials measured the land wrongly to make it appear like a state-owned property. Jacob said that in addition to the disputed land, officials also claimed “another half acre of mission land." Right-wing groups had publicly threatened to pull down the boundary wall if the government failed to do so,” Jacob said.

Lall said they plan to file a “complaint before the appropriate authority well before the 15-day deadline ends.” He said “even revenue records were manipulated” to claim the land.