Kochi, Mar 1 (PTI) The ruling CPI(M) here said Friday that there was no need to bring a law to manage temporal properties of the church in the state.

CPI(M) state secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan said this while rejecting allegations of various church groups, including the Kerala Catholic Bishops Council (KCBC), that the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government headed by Pinarayi Vijayan was bringing in a new law to govern church properties.

The existing laws and church laws were enough to deal with matters related to such properties and there was no need for enacting a new law for the purpose, Balakrishnan told reporters here.

He alleged there was a propaganda by certain groups, claiming that the government was going ahead with its plan to introduce the bill, widely known as the Kerala Church Act, even after Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan made it clear that there was no such move from the government.

The church groups, including Syro-Malabar Church and Orthodox Church, started protesting against the law after the Law Reforms Commission published the draft of the Kerala Church (Properties and Institutions) Bill, 2019 on the commission's website seeking views of the people.

Balakrishnan made it clear that the state government would not intervene in the issues related to the church and its assets.

The new legislation was mooted to ensure fair and transparent administration of all properties and funds of churches and to provide remedies for maladministration, if any.

The initiative to bring the legislation was taken after Catholic reformists in the state launched a campaign for a new law to govern church properties following a controversy over alleged land deals involving top priests of Syro-Malabar church.

The reformists allege that the core issue of corruption in the Catholic church rests with canon law, a church law, which allows bishops to use absolute powers even in temporal matters. PTI TGB NVG SNE

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