KOCHI: The Kerala High Court on Thursday said it was the state government’s duty to resolve disputes such as the one between the Orthodox and Jacobite factions, by intervening through “mediation and conciliation or, as a last resort, through executive action or even legislation” to ensure lasting peace and social order.
The court said the state should preferably adhere to neutrality and refrain from interfering in religious matters, except where citizens’ rights concerning temporal matters are infringed.
However, when such disputes escalate into law-and-order issues affecting the public at large, the state has a duty to intervene through mediation or conciliation and, if necessary, executive action or legislation, the court said.
A division bench comprising Justice A K Jayasankaran Nambiar and Justice A K Preeta also set aside police protection granted to churches in Palakkad, Ernakulam and Kollam districts, holding that claims over church management and possession of properties must first be decided by a competent civil court before police protection can be considered.
The court also referred to a coordinate bench judgment holding that it would amount to an abuse of legal process to invoke Article 226 and seek a writ of mandamus directing police to protect claimed possession of property without first establishing such possession before a competent civil court.
The court clarified that the judgment would not prevent the petitioners from approaching the civil court to have their claims over possession of the church properties adjudicated.
The division bench was hearing a batch of appeals filed by the Jacobite faction, challenging a single judge order granting police protection to three churches in Ernakulam district.
The state government informed the court that around 1,100 churches of the Malankara Church are held either by the Jacobite faction or the Orthodox faction.
‘Will hold talks with heads of both factions’
In a statement, the government told the court that it had proposed mediation at the highest level, with the chief minister personally taking up the matter.
It said it would hold discussions with the heads of both the Orthodox and Jacobite factions and make earnest efforts to bring them to the negotiating table for an amicable settlement of their long-standing disputes.
Any settlement reached would be placed before the court, the government said, expressing hope that the process would end the prolonged differences across the Malankara Church and restore peace to the faithful of both factions.
The court expressed hope that the measures proposed by the state government would yield effective results.
