NEW DELHI: Even as the principal and faculty members cry foul over the "attempts'' of the Church of North India (CNI) to "take control'' over St Stephen's College, documents with The Times of India prove that this move was always on the cards and principal Valson Thampu knew about it.

A memorandum signed by Thampu and Bishop Sunil Kumar Singh who is also the chairman of the Supreme Council (SC) and Governing Body (GB) of the college on September 8, 2009 says that both sides would withdraw the ongoing case in the Delhi High Court regarding the principal's "probation''. Once the MoU was endorsed by the SC three days later, a second document was signed by both clearly spelling out that amendments will be made in the college constitution "to have greater representation from the CNI and to strengthen the influence of the Church over the college.'' Two other SC members also signed it.

The resolution of the SC meeting of September 11, 2009, adopted after "re-examining the issue of prescribing probationary period for the principal and the dispute that has arisen in this regard, resulting in litigation'', went on to say: "in the light of the MoU signed by the principal and chairman of the Supreme Council under the guidance of the moderator of the Church of North India (CNI), with the office bearers of the Synod as witnesses, the council resolved that the dispute be dropped in order to facilitate the closure of the Writ before the High Court of Delhi.''

The MoU stated "that the dispute regarding the probation of the Principal shall be dropped and both parties shall file withdrawal petition in the Court before September 14, 2009, which is the next date of hearing,''. The follow-up document signed on September 11 also proposes "Amendment of the college constitution to recognize the indisputable right of the Synod of the CNI or any of its constituent bodies to have at least one representative on the SC/ GB of the college in all circumstances.'' Apart from the Bishop and the principal, the other signatories in this document were general secretary of CNI Enos Das Pradhan, and members of SC Sudhir Joseph and Ian Weatherall.

Speaking to TOI, Thampu said that the document signed on the day of the SC meeting is not part of the MoU and that he has been "forced to sign it by the Bishop. It is a resolution which the Bishop has set as a precondition before the case can be withdrawn. I hesitated to sign, but I signed on assurance of confidentiality and that the issue would not be pursued with immediate effect. The Bishop turned this into an opportunity to get some concession in return for his promise to withdraw the case. On hindsight now, I regret signing the document. The Bishop has breached all trust and I would now rethink on withdrawing the case on my probation.'' Despite repeated attempts to call him and text messages stating the exact nature of Thampu's allegations, the Bishop did not respond.

Joseph who maintained that the proposal was to take a relook at the constitution and not to necessarily amend it, refuted Thampu's statement. "Why would the Church damage its own institution? For all these years has the Church not been an inspiration for the college, always endeavouring to strengthen it? A relook does not mean that the constitution will be changed. There was definitely no pressure on Thampu to sign the document.''

Meanwhile, questions have been raised about the validity of the MoU as it gives extraordinary powers to the moderator of CNI (Purely Lyngdoh) in that it lays down that neither the Bishop nor principal shall initiate "any legal or administrative action pertaining to their right, functions and powers in the governance and administration of the college'' without his permission. Lyngdoh who is in Shillong, was not available for comment. A senior faculty member said: "The moderator of the Church, which is the highest office, has been dragged into this issue while that office has no role to play in the college affairs.''

Meanwhile, the college faculty is crying foul over the attempt to amend the constitution "unilaterally'' without taking them into confidence.

--- TOI