High Court stays munsif court order on church

Orthodox priest seeks to restrain Jacobite priests from managing church

The Kerala High Court on Monday stayed for three weeks the Kothamangalam Munsif Court order dismissing a suit field by the Orthodox faction priest seeking to restrain the Jacobite priests from managing the affairs of the Kothamangalam church and also to prevent them from conducting services at the church.

‘Order improper’

In his petition, Fr. Thomas Paul Ramban of the Orthodox faction pointed out that the order of the Munsif Court was absolutely perverse and improper.

The suit was necessitated when the right of the petitioner to conduct religious services at the church was under challenge from the Jacobite faction.

2002 constitution

In fact, the Jacobite faction had decided to carry out the administration of the church in accordance with the 2002 constitution of Yacobaya Suriyani Christiani Sabha, in complete violation of the declaration of law by the Supreme Court in favour of the Orthodox priests.