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The Madras High Court on Tuesday granted bail to Bishop Samuel Mar Irenios, head of the Syro-Malankara Diocese of Pathanamthitta, Kerala and 5 other priests in a case related to illegal sand mining at the Tirunelveli property of the diocese.

The Bishop and 5 priests, including the Vicar General, were arrested by the Tamil Nadu Crime Branch CB-CID on February 6.

The single bench of Justice K. Murali Shankar granted bail with certain conditions to Bishop Samuel Mar Irenios and priests Shaji Thomas, George Samuel Puthenvilayil, Jose Kalavila, Sijo James and Jose Chamakalayil. The petitioners stated they were not involved in the illegal sand mining.

While Bishop Irenios and Father Jose Chamkala were admitted to Tirunelveli Medical College after they complained of chest pain and giddiness, the rest of the priests were lodged in Nanguneri jail.

The CB-CID charged that the Pathanamthitta Diocese has 300 acres of land at Pottal near Kallidakurichi in Tirunelveli district. The land was given on a five-year lease to one Manuel George of Kottayam from 2019 onwards.

The charge was that Manuel George obtained a license for manufacturing M-sand at the property but lifted sand from Vandal Odai that does not have a title deed and sold the sand with the connivance of officials of revenue and police.

After environmentalists raised complaints, Cheranmahadevi Sub-Collector Pratik Tayal conducted an inspection and found that 27,774 cubic metres of river sand has been illegally lifted. A fine of Rs 9.57 crore was slapped against the Malankara Diocese who are the owners of the property.

On February 9, the bail application of the Bishop and other priests was rejected by the Judicial Magistrate First (In-charge) Kadarkarai in Tirunelveli.

The Advocate for the Diocese argued that, the owners of the land, including Bishop Irenios and others, were not able to inspect the property near Pottal since March 2019 due to Covid-19. He further argued that, George seized this opportunity and illegally mined the sand.

The Diocese also stated that the lease agreement for the property with Manuel George will be terminated as he breached the terms of the lease agreement.

(With inputs from news sources)