Kerala church row: SC says 'bothered' by order on use of force in religious place

New Delhi, Jan 30 (PTI) The Supreme Court on Thursday set aside a high court order summoning senior state officials and directing them to take possession of six churches of the Jacobite Syrian Church faction and hand it over to Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church factions in Kerala.

A bench of Justices Surya Kant and N Kotiswar Singh, which had held the members of Jacobite faction in prima facie contempt for having willfully disobeyed its decisions in the matter, remitted the case to the high court for a fresh ruling.

The bench said the high court directing the district collector and police of Ernakulam and Palakkad districts to take over the possession of the churches was "bothering" it.

"The police going inside the religious place is what is bothering us and that is why we are asking the high court to examine this aspect afresh and find out some solution. The high court will be free to pass appropriate orders for enforcement of this court’s orders, wherever it has been found that it is not given effect in true letter and spirit," it said.

The top court underlined the "chequered history" when it came to the management, control and administration of the churches between two factions of the Christian community.

It set aside the Kerala High Court’s October 17 order in which it summoned the senior officials of the state government after the district collector and police were unable to take over the physical possession of the churches.

The high court ordered the state's top officials to appear before it for the framing of charges for contempt of court in the case as they were not able to take the possession of six churches, under the control of the Jacobite faction.

The top court outlined various aspects to be looked into by the high court, including the true import of top court's decisions; the parties that were bound by the dictum of in its cited decisions; whether the decree which attained finality was satisfied/fulfilled, and if not, which part of the decree remained unfulfilled and the remedial action required to be taken.

The high court was further asked to look into the aspect of legal effect of the 2020 Act enacted by the state government on places of burial and the legal effect of the pending contempt proceedings.

The bench asked the high court to mull over the aspect of using police force in religious places.

"Should the high court, in a dispute related to religious places direct civil administration to take possession of religious places and if so, to what extent such intervention will be desirable in public interest," it said.

Senior advocate K K Venugopal, appearing for the Malankara faction, referred to the top court's "substantial orders" passed over multiple hearings which included holding the contemnors prima facie in contempt.

The bench however said, "All of you must appreciate why we are sending the matter back." "Let's hope that the high court may find some mechanism. We hope and trust that kind of mechanism the high court will follow in adjudicating the dispute," said Justice Surya Kant.

On December 17, the top court directed for maintaining status quo on the management and administration of churches in Kerala in the dispute between the two factions.

It noted both factions had expressed their inability to comply with its December 3 direction to the Jacobite Syrian Church to hand over the administration of six churches to the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church faction.

On December 3, last year the top court directed the Jacobite Syrian Church to hand over the administration of six churches in Kerala to the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church faction saying they were in contempt of its 2017 judgement.

It observed the members of the Jacobite Syrian Church were in contempt for "wilfully disobeying" the 2017 judgment.

The verdict was over the dispute between the two factions, in which the top court held that 1,100 parishes and their churches under the Malankara Church should be controlled by the Orthodox faction, in accordance with the 1934 Malankara Church guidelines.

Jacobite church followers were accused of preventing access to the Orthodox faction, despite orders from both the Kerala High Court and the Supreme Court.

The top court had directed the Jacobite faction to hand over the administration of three churches each in Ernakulam and Palakkad districts to the Malankara faction and file an affidavit.

The Malankara faction was however directed to ensure common amenities in these churches such as burial grounds, schools, hospitals, etc., can be enjoyed by the Jacobite faction as well in conformity with the 1934 constitution.

The top court had passed the direction on the appeal filed against an order of the high court which directed the district collectors and police of Palakkad and Ernakulam to take possession of six churches under the control of the Jacobite faction. PTI MNL AMK