Times of India: Thiruvananthapuram: Tuesday, June 06, 2017.
The excise
department returned an application from M Soosai Pakiam, the Latin Archbishop
of Thiruvananthapuram, seeking enhancement in the annual quota for producing
wine used for mass, from the existing 250 litres to 2,500 litres, saying it
found the demand prima facie unreasonable.
In the reply
given by the joint commissioner of excise, accessed by TOI under RTI Act, the
department said that the increase in quota sought is disproportionate to the
number of priests.
The
application from Soosai Pakiam, who is also president of Kerala Catholic
Bishops Council and a vocal votary of prohibition, says that there are 408
priests now and so the archdiocese should be permitted to brew 2,500 litres of
wine per year.
In his reply,
the joint excise commissioner's letter said, "The number of total priests
has been enhanced by 77% but the request is to enhance annual quantity of mass
wine by 900%.
"The
requested quantity is not in proportion with the number of priests. You are
therefore directed to clarify the above point".
The
application that was returned in the first week of April has not elicited a
reply from the diocese yet.
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