Malankara-Jacobite Church Dispute : Supreme Court Asks Kerala Govt To Not Publicise Data On Population & Assets Of Both Factions

In the dispute between Malankara Orthodox and Jacobite Churches, the Supreme Court on Wednesday (January 15) asked the State of Kerala to not publish or circulate the data regarding the population, assets and churches belonging to both the factions.In December 2024, the Court had asked the State to furnish the data regarding the population( preferably sub-region/gram panchayat-wise) of both Orthodox and Jacobite denominations; the list of churches under the complete administrative control of both the sections; the list of churches where the management is under dispute and their current status of administrative control.Today, after the Malankara side raised apprehensions that the publication of the date might lead to problems within the communities, the bench asked Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal (for the State of Kerala) to not circulate or publish the date.At the outset, the bench comprising Justice Surya Kant and Justice NK Sigh said that the Courts have to tread very cautiously in religious affairs."You are asking for intervention of the court in religious affairs. We have to tread very carefully. We have to be extremely cautious. Today you have come. Tomorrow some other religious group will come. So Courts have to be very cautious," Justice Kant said.Senior Advocate KK Venugopal (for the Malankara side) suggested that the data be given to the Court in a sealed cover, saying that the publication of the data might cause "heartburn". "Let the data be kept with the government itself, in a sealed cover," Venugopal said.Senior Advocate Krishnan Venugopal (for the Malankara side) agreed to this suggestion, saying that the "numbers game" will create more and more confusion. He submitted the rights of the Malankara side have already been settled by various Supreme Court judgments. He further contended that the other side has produced church registers showing persons of the Malankara faction as their members."My only request is to consider.. the churches which have not been handed over pursuant to the execution of the 1995 judgment..if those churches which were not turned over, and the register is now produced by the Patriarch faction, and that is what the State is doing..the difficulty is this - people who say they owe allegiance to the Malankara Church, which is the indigenous church from 52 AD founded by the St.Thomas himself. Only in the 18th century, they took shelter under the Syrian Patriarch, because the Portuguese were torturing them. After that, this hon'ble Court held, it is not the majority, you have to go by who created the trust. My submission is, church registers are being produced by the Patriarch faction in which they show people who owe allegiance to our faction. Numbers therefore will only throw a further cloud," Krishnan Venugopal said. Justice Kant said that the efforts of the Court are to find ways to ensure that "the two groups can live amicably and peacefully and resolve their disputes""1800 of the 2000 churches which were subject to the judgment in 1995 where elections were held are in our possession. 200 churches are under the dispute. 60 churches have been handed over. Now going into numbers exercise will harden the positions of both the factions," Krishnan Venugopal said. The senior counsel also contended that the State was not impartial, as the Jacobite faction openly supported the Communist Party in the last elections. Kapil Sibal raised objections to this submission.Senior Advocate CU Singh (also for the Malankara side) said that the position which has been settled for over a hundred years was now sought to be unsettled. "The figures are manipulated. If these are disseminated, that will cause more upsetting of settled positions. Let the Court have the figures but let them not be disseminated," Singh said. He added that the Malankara Church was not only confined to Kerala but was spread across all over the world. "But the dispute has arisen unfortunately in Kerala. That is why we sought the data from Kerala," Justice Kant said. Singh stressed that the State's figures will create a misleading picture.Turning to Sibal, Justice Kant, "You don't publicise the data." Singh said that let the data be kept between the State and the Court."What is the purpose of keeping it between the State and the Court? It is of no use to anybody," Sibal said."Don't circulate the figures," Justice Kant told Sibal. The matter will be next considered on Janaury 29.The bench was essentially hearing the petitions filed against the Kerala High Court's direction directing the officials to take over the administration of three churches each in Ernakulam and Palakkad districts from the Jacobite group. On December 3, the Court, observing that the Jacobite members were prima facie in contempt, directed them to hand over the administration of six churches. The Court also asked the Malankara sect to allow the Jacobite members to use the schools and burial grounds in the church compound.Subsequently, the Malankara side...

Malankara-Jacobite Church Dispute : Supreme Court Asks Kerala Govt To Not Publicise Data On Population & Assets Of Both Factions

Gursimran Kaur Bakshi

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