MUNNAR : The High Court on Friday issued notice to the state government on a petition filed by the Orthodox faction challenging the Kerala Right to Burial of Corpse in Christian (Malankara Orthodox - Jacobite) Cemeteries Act, 2020.The Act empowers families belonging to a parish with the right to be buried in the cemetery where their ancestors were laid to rest. Though the petitioners sought an interim order staying the Act, the court declined it and posted to February 17 for further hearing.
The petition was filed by HH Mar Baselios Marthoma Paulose II, Catholicos of the East and Malankara Metropolitan, Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church, Kottayam, and Biju Oommen, secretary, managing committee, Malankara Syrian Christian Association.
The petitioners argued that the new Act was discriminatory and arbitrary. It was a conscious attempt of the state to revise the judgment of the Supreme Court in K S Varghese case. The petitioner further argued that no law can be implemented to regulate religious or spiritual services in a private church like the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church.