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Eight years after an application seeking sanction for development on Afghan Church plot and its adjacent plots was filed, the charity commissioner's office rejected it. Eight years
after an application seeking sanction for development on Afghan Church plot and its adjacent plots was filed, the charity commissioner's office rejected it. “It is a fantastic order.
The property of the church has been saved because of PB Amolik's suspension,” said James Baker, one of the interveners in the case. The application, which was filed by Amolik in the
capacity of honorary secretary of The Bombay Diocesan Trusts Association Pvt Ltd in 2004, was made for “grant of sanction to develop and alienate the property belonging to the trust”, as per
the recording in the joint charity commissioner MS Jawalkar's judgment on August 30. The trust felt that as the dilapidated properties required major repairs, they could not afford to
carry them out on their own. The trustees decided to develop the property without demolishing the church building. They gave an advertisement in newspapers and selected a developer for the
work. The developer gave the trust Rs51 lakh to develop the 10,166.27 sqm of the property in Colaba. Afghan Church stands on one of these plots. But when the advertisement appeared in
newspapers, a section of the community objected. There made allegations and filed complaints to stop the development of the ‘church properties’. At one point, even the ownership of the land
was questioned. The defence establishment claimed that the land belonged to them in a reply to the charity commissioner. However, the joint charity commissioner pointed out that as Amolik
was suspended from trusteeship due to another application, allowing this application may lead to further litigation. Though Amolik had asked the hearing to be kept in abeyance, a time-bound
hearing by court ensured that an order had to be given before August 31. The charity commissioner's office rejected the application and directed the trust to return Rs51 lakh to the
developer.