THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: In the wake of the Supreme Court’s scathing criticism of the state over non-implementation of its 2017 verdict on the prolonged Orthodox-Jacobite Church dispute, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Thursday clarified his government was duty-bound to implement the apex court order. The SC had asked the Kerala Chief Secretary the other day to enforce its order or face jail sentence.
Pinarayi said the verdict would be implemented in a ‘peaceful manner’ after finding a ‘consensus’ among all stakeholders. Pinarayi was responding to a submission by CPM MLA Antony John in the assembly.
“The government is duty-bound to implement any order by the Supreme Court on the matter. Due to the peculiarity of the case and as directed in the apex court order, the government has tried to implement the verdict in a peaceful manner. The government has always adopted a stance that has been respectful of verdicts by the court,” he said.
The Chief Minister said though attempts were made to initiate contempt-of-court proceedings against the state government earlier, the apex court had thrown them out. This led to petitioners withdrawing contempt petitions against the state government, he added.
In an apparent reference to the Sabarimala women entry case, Pinarayi said the government would adopt the same stance in the Church dispute case while implementing the verdict by the Supreme Court’s Bench.
‘Police had intervened whenever necessary’
Pinarayi Vijayan said: “To avoid untoward incidents and to ensure the maintenance of law and order, the police had intervened whenever necessary. This was to make sure that faithful do not have any hindrance in offering worship in the churches.” The SC in its verdict has clarified that law and order issues or closure of churches should not happen while implementing the order. To adhere to this directive, the government held discussions with peace-loving members of both factions.