JUDGEMENT BY THE DIVISION BENCH OF KERALA HIGH COURT IN THE APPEAL FILED BY THE
ORTHODOX FACTION OF THE SYRIAN CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY OF THE ST PETER’S AND ST
PAUL’S JACOBITE CHURCH, PUTHENCRUZ
1] A Division Bench of Kerala High Court rendered an important judgement having
far reaching consequences in the disputes between the orthodox faction and
Patriarch Faction of the Syrian Christian Community ,
2] A Suit was filed in 1976 by a few members of the Orthodox Faction with
the intention of taking over the management and administration of the ST PETER’S
AND ST PAUL’S JACOBITE CHURCH, PUTHENCRUZ AND ALSO TO EXCLUSIVELY CONTROL THE
MODE OF CONDUCT OF RELIGIOUS SERVICES/QURBANA THEREIN THROUGH THEIR RELIGIOUS
DIGNITARIES WHO ARE CREATURES OF THE 1934,CONSTITUTION OF THE MALANKARA
ASSOCIATION,
3] The First Additional District Court,Ernakulam,dismissed the suit as not
maintainable due to lack of sanction under Section 92 of the Code of Civil
Procedure,1908. It was held that the Puthencruz Church is a Public Trust of a
religious and Charitable nature and as such no suit can be filed with regard to
its affairs without previous sanction from the Principal Civil Court of Original
jurisdiction under Section 92 of the Code of Civil Procedure,1908,
4] The Orthodox Faction challenged the said Judgement by filing the Appeal, A S
No 136 of 2001 before the Hon’ble High Court of Kerala. It was contended that
the Puthencruz Church is a private trust and hence Section 92 of the Code of
Civil Procedure,1908,is not applicable,
5] During the pendency of the Suit and Appeal both the factions were conducting
religious services/Qurbana on alternate weeks in the Puthencruz Church.
Administration is completely with the Patriarch Faction of the Syrian Christian
Community. Orthodox Faction were only conducting religious services during
alternate weeks. Several indirect attempts were made by them to capture
administration of the Puthencruz Church,
6] The Division Bench of Kerala High Court in a learned judgement running to 57
pages rejected all the contentions of the Orthodox Faction and held that the
Puthencruz Church is a public trust of a religious and charitable nature. Appeal
was dismissed confirming the judgement of the First Additional District
Court,Ernakulam,
7] The result of the Judgement is that the interim direction allowing the
Orthodox Faction to conduct religious services/Qurbana in the Puthencruz Church
comes to an end. An oral request made by the Counsel to the Division Bench of
the High Court immediately after pronouncement of the judgement to maintain
status quo was rejected,
8] However, in paragraphs 28 and 29 ,the High Court of Kerala have issued the
following warnings to both the factions, viz;
“ 28. A peep into the past indicates that these Churches are possessed of
appreciable temporalities which explains the avaricious scramble for possession
and power by the two warring factions even where the assets belong to the
ALMIGHTY. Both sides are under the grip of chronic litigation fever which keeps
on waxing and waining as manifested even through the interlocutory applications
which are invariably fought up to the High Court, if not still higher. Judicial
analgesics and febrifuges have failed to give sustainable results thus calling
for the need to administer stronger and more bitter medicines. Experience shows
that where temporalities flourish there is always an avaricious scramble for
power even where the assets belong to the Almighty. It is the maladministration
in religious institutions which is the main cause for quasi-judicial intrusions
into areas of religious worship notwithstanding the fact that secularism and
religious freedom are guaranteed fudamendal rights under the Constitution of
this Country. Once there is avoidable executive and bureaucratic interference
into such sensitive areas, the problems of overdoing, undoing or non-doing by
the instrumentalities of the State and the consequential administrative,
quasi-judicial or judicial reviews also crop in. Even in areas which are
seemingly impervious to judicial, probe, we have seen the beneficial virus of
judicial review exploring ameliorative possibilities and translating into
reality the well-being of the mankind. The verdict of the Apex Court in All
India Imam Organisation Vs Union of India-1993[3] SCC 584 was a breakthrough
gesture of judicial creativity in that direction,
29. The Warring factions of the religious denomination should, however, remember
that whatever be the sweep and amplitude of the constitutional guarantee to
profess, practice and propagate religion, there is a corresponding fundamendal
duty cast on every citizen under Article-51-A of the Constitution of India to
abjure violence and to prom ote harmony and the spirit of common brotherhood
amongst all the people of India transcending, inter alia, religious
diversities.[See also Sri.Adi Visheshwara of Kasi Viswanath Temple,Varanasi and
others v State of U.P and Others [1997] 4 SCC 606]. THE POWER OF THE COURT
EXERCISING JURISDICTION UNDER SECTIONS 92 C.P.C AND THE INHERENT POWER OF THE
COURT IN ANY OTHER JURISDICTIONS TO COMMIT THE SUBJECT MATTER OF DISCORD TO THE
CUSTODY OF A RECEIVER,IS A POWER POTENT ENOUGH TO DISPOSSESS AND DISABLE BOTH
THE DISPUTANTS OF THEIR RIGHT TO ADMINISTER THE CHURCH. HENCE, SUCH AN EXTREME
MEASURE WILL BE A REAL THREAT TO THOSE WHO INDULGE IN THE CUPID POWER GRAB. THE
AGITATORS WILL DO WELL IF THEY REALIZE THAT BY PROVOKING THE COURT THROUGH THEIR
UNDEMOCRATIC AND ANTI CHRISTIAN ACTIVITIES THEY STAND TO LOOSE THE VIRTUALLY
UNFETTERED RIGHT TO PROFESS, PRACTICE AND PROPAGATE RELIGION”
P J PHILIP,Advocate
