Relief for Jacobite faction; apex court sets aside Kerala HC ruling on possession of six churches

According to Mor Theophilos Kuriakose, chairman of the Jacobite Media Cell, the points raised by the SC have indeed come as a relief.
Kerala HC
Kerala HC(File Photo)
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KOCHI: In a major relief for the Jacobite Syrian Church, the Supreme Court on Thursday set aside the order of the Kerala High Court directing the state government to take possession of six churches of the faction and hand them over to the Malankara Orthodox Church.

The bench comprising Justices Surya Kant and N Kotiswar Singh directed the division bench of the HC to take a fresh look at the contempt petitions in light of certain concerns that had been highlighted in Thursday’s order.

The SC was hearing petitions filed against the HC order asking officials to take over administration of three churches each in Ernakulam and Palakkad districts.

Some of the issues highlighted in the SC order include the legal impact of the Kerala Right to Burial of Corpse in Christian (Malankara Orthodox-Jacobite) Cemeteries Act, 2020, on pending contempt petitions, should the HC in a dispute relating to religious affairs direct the civil administration to take over the religious places; and, to what extent such an intervention is desirable in public interest, and about police officers taking over religious places.

According to Mor Theophilos Kuriakose, chairman of the Jacobite Media Cell, the points raised by the SC have indeed come as a relief. “The Orthodox faction had challenged the validity of the Cemeteries Bill in the HC. But the SC order strengthens it,” he added.

Other issues that were highlighted by the SC bench were: what is the import of the decisions of this court, who are the parties who shall be bound by the dictum of this court and whether the decree which attained finality has been satisfied or fulfilled, if not, which part of the decree remains unfulfilled and what remedial action in that regard is required to be taken.

The bench said, “Since we find that all the said questions require fresh consideration by the HC, we remit the matter to the division bench to decide the fate of the contempt petitions afresh after hearing all the parties concerned.” The bench clarified that it has not expressed anything on merit and left it to the HC to take its own independent decision. It also clarified that the interim exemption given to state government officers from appearing on contempt petitions would continue.

As for the population data of both communities, churches/assets under their control and churches in dispute, the SC said that the data was not necessary for the disposal of the present matters.

The Orthodox Church welcomed the apex court’s decision not to consider population data. “We welcome the SC’s stand that census is irrelevant to the Malankara Church case. The HC had directed the government to enumerate the number of members of both sections. However, the Orthodox Church’s stand was that this census would not be complete and the information would not be revealed honestly,” said Yuhanon Mar Diascoros, head of the Orthodox Church’s media wing.

THE BACKSTORY

On December 3, 2024, the SC, observing that the Jacobite faction was prima facie in contempt, directed it to hand over administration of the six churches. It also asked the Orthodox faction to allow Jacobite members to use schools and burial grounds on church compounds. However, the Orthodox group raised objections saying Jacobite rituals cannot be allowed at burial sites.

On December 17, the SC ordered status quo on management and administration of the churches as they existed on the date. It further asked the state to furnish data regarding population, preferably sub-region- or panchayat-wise, of both the factions, the list of churches under the complete administrative control of both sections and the list of churches in dispute and their current status of administrative control.

The HC order relates to St Mary’s Orthodox Church, Odakkal, St John’s Besphage Orthodox Syrian Church, Pulinthanam, St Thomas Orthodox Church, Mazhuvannoor, St Mary’s Orthodox Church, Mangalam Dam, St Mary’s Orthodox Syrian Church, Erickinchira, and St Thomas Orthodox Syrian Church, Cherukunnam.

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