JABALPUR (INDIA)
Union of Catholic Asian News (UCA News) [Hong Kong]
April 14, 2023
By UCA News reporter
P. C. Singh, who was bishop of Jabalpur and moderator of the Church of North India, has been remanded to judicial custody
A former protestant bishop has been remanded to seven days of custody after being arrested by India’s Directorate of Enforcement (ED), a federal agency that investigates money laundering and violations of foreign exchange laws.
P. C. Singh was the bishop of Jabalpur Diocese and also served as moderator of the Synod of the Church of North India (CNI).
He was arrested from his residence in Jabalpur on April 12 night by officials and presented before a special court in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh the next day.
An ED official on April 14 confirmed to UCA News that Singh has been arrested and remanded in its custody, but refused to divulge any further details.
Singh has been facing investigations since last year.
Officials of the state agency dealing with economic offenses raided his office and residence in September 2022 and claimed to have unearthed cash worth 16 million Indian rupees (some US$200,000) and foreign currency worth some US$250. They also claimed to have recovered documents of properties and vehicles allegedly disproportionate to his income.
The former bishop has been charged with misappropriation of funds, forgery, and cheating among other things, and also accused of diverting funds of diocesan schools for his personal use, besides being involved in money laundering.
The seizure of foreign currency from his possession “led to the entry of the ED into the money laundering probe against Singh,” an official source revealed on the condition of anonymity.
Singh was arrested after the raid in September last year and was in judicial custody until January this year.
Soon after his arrest, he was dismissed from offices by the CNI as the bishop of Jabalpur and moderator in charge of its 27 dioceses.
In March, the federal agency carried out further searches at his office and residence and seized some documents. Its investigators also interrogated Singh, his family members, and their associates during the course of the raid.
The CNI owns huge parcels of land and runs various educational and health institutions across India inherited from the Anglican Church of the British era. The CNI was formed in 1970, uniting all the Protestant churches in northern India.
After unification, the properties independently owned by the churches came under the administration of the CNI, which is now part of the worldwide Anglican Communion and a member of the World Methodist Council.