No Sale Without State Permission: Himachal Pradesh Rules on Church Land Held Above the Ceiling

• Revenue authorities in Himachal Pradesh ruled that church properties cannot be sold without state permission
• Religious institutions are allowed to hold more than the 30-acre land ceiling
• The ruling arose over a 107-year-old leprosy home in Palampur run by the Church of North India
• Any earlier unauthorised sales would be illegal

Revenue authorities in Himachal Pradesh, India, have determined that “church properties cannot be sold without the prior permission of the state government,” The Tribune reported on December 6, 2019, in a report by Ravinder Sood.

The ruling rests on Section 5(i) of the Himachal Pradesh Ceiling on Land Holding Act, 1971, amended in 2014. Religious institutions, like tea gardens and apple orchards, are exempt from the 30-acre ceiling and may hold more land, but they cannot sell it without state approval. Church properties are spread across Kangra, Kullu, Shimla, Chamba, Solan and Sirmaur districts. Any earlier unauthorised sales would be deemed illegal.

The ruling arose over the 107-year-old leprosy home in Palampur, established by the British in 1912, which passed to the Church of North India after 1947. It stands alongside St Paul’s Senior Secondary School, built by Canadian missionaries. Both are managed by the Amritsar Dioceses Trust Association. Principal Virendra Pal Singh said the institution “had no intention of selling these properties” and was committed to protecting them.

Land the church was allowed to hold because of its religious purpose cannot simply be sold on the open market.

Jamaican churches generally do not need state permission to sell land, but some church land came with conditions, such as grants for schools, burial grounds or specific uses. Churches should check the terms under which they received land before selling it, since restrictive covenants or reverter clauses may limit what they can do.

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