The campaign to defend Mumbai’s Protestant — and prominently, Anglican — church properties has entered a new and turbulent phase, deepening a dispute that began with a 2024 grassroots petition alleging the illicit sale and unauthorized leasing of historic church properties.
The petition was spearheaded by the Christian Reform United People Association (CRUPA) alongside lay members of the Church of North India (CNI), Church of South India, Methodist Church, and The Salvation Army. Activists charged that a cabal of trustees and administrators had attempted to alienate church properties, like Robert Money School and St Peter’s Church in Mazgaon without legal authority or church community consent. The campaign struck a chord, amassing over 1,500 signatures, drawing city and national media attention, and igniting a broader conversation on the stewardship and protection of Christian assets in India’s financial capital.
On 19 June 2025, the Bombay High Court intervened, setting a six-month deadline for the Charity Commissioner to adjudicate longstanding trust disputes. Justices M.S. Sonak and Jitendra Jain held church properties cannot be treated merely as commercial assets, and may only be disposed of out of “absolute necessity” — subject to the strict scrutiny of state authorities. The High Court called for a renewed focus on preserving these heritage sites and honoring their intended religious and educational purposes, not permitting them to be “dismantled for narrow commercial gains.”
The activist coalition has not remained idle. CRUPA and allied groups escalated their campaign, including nationwide appeals and emergency organizing. On 11 July 2025 over 3,000 Christians gathered at Azad Maidan, Mumbai, with religious freedom, community safety, and property stewardship blending into a potent protest. The demonstration reflected not only anxiety over attacks on church leaders and vandalism, but explicit demands for greater protection of historic Christian properties under law.
Calls for a comprehensive Church Property Law gathered momentum after a 17 April 2025 ruling by the Madurai bench of the Madras High Court. The court noted the legal vacuum facing Christian properties, in contrast to statutory protections for Hindu and Muslim endowments, and reinforced the need for parliamentary action to curb ongoing alienation and mismanagement. Anglican and Protestant leaders have pressed for equal legal standing, arguing that only legislation will ensure the integrity of mission properties.
Mumbai’s struggle echoes running Anglican debates worldwide over trust, transparency, and asset stewardship. Many threatened properties in Mumbai are former Anglican schools and churches — once outposts of mission and faith — now endangered by commercial pressures and inadequate governance.