THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: In a major setback for CSI South Kerala Diocese Bishop A Dharmaraj Rasalam, the Madras High Court on Tuesday invalidated his election as CSI moderator in charge of five southern states and Sri Lanka. The verdict has come as a victory for a section of CSI laity in Kerala who waged a legal battle against the bishop.
CSI moderator Rasalam was scheduled to retire on May 19, 2023, at the age of 67. However, he had brought in an amendment to the Church’s constitution to raise the retirement age to 70 years, which was challenged by a section of believers. On Tuesday, the Madras HC set aside the amendment effected by the bishop. Bishop Rasalam was in charge of Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Karnataka.
A formidable protestant group, the Chennai-headquartered CSI Church reportedly has around 45 lakh churchgoers in south India. A large section of the laity who were at loggerheads with Bishop Rasalam alleged that the decision to enhance retirement age was announced by him during an “illegal” synod meeting held in Trichy in March, 2022. Following this P K Rose Bist, former administrative secretary of CSI South Kerala Diocese, aproached the Madras HC.
“The court upheld my petition stating Rasalam did not have two-third majority. The court also ordered that an election should be held within four months. Justice Senthilkumar Ramamoorthy, who pronounced the verdict, ruled that former High Court Judge Bharathidasan be appointed the observer to oversee the election,” Rose Bist, a neurosurgeon at the Thiruvananthapuram Medical College Hospital, told TNIE.
V T Mohanan, a whistleblower working against alleged corrupt practices in CSI Church, said the verdict
has dealt a severe blow to the bishop.
‘Bishop Rasalam to go for appeal in court’
“Rasalam passed 19 controversial amendments during the synod meeting. He wound up the synod meeting in just one hour. Currently, Rasalam is facing a slew of cases in different courts, including the Thiruvananthapuram district court, Kerala, Telangana, TN and Karnataka High Courts and Karim Nagar district court,” said Mohanan.
Bishop Rasalam was not available for comments. However, T T Praveen, the church administrative secretary, told TNIE that Rasalam has decided to go for appeal. “The verdict was issued by a single bench. This verdict is applicable not only to Rasalam but to the remaining 67 Bishops too. We have decided to go for appeal before the division bench of the Madras HC,” said Praveen.Bishop Rasalam had earlier come under the lens of ED over a financial irregularity case. The bishop was also in the news when a major section of the parishioners of MM Church in Thiruvananthapuram (now MM Cathedral) opposed the move to convert it into a cathedral.
COURT RULING