SC Tells HC To Review Its '24 Kerala Church Order

The Supreme Court on Thursday directed the Kerala high court to decide afresh on the contempt petitions arising out of non-compliance of a 2017 judgment of the top court settling a long-standing dispute between the Malankara Orthodox and Jacobite factions over administration of churches in Kerala.

- HT Correspondent

NEW DELHI:

Setting aside the October 2024 order of the high court directing the state administration to take possession of six churches of the Jacobite faction and hand them over to the Malankara Orthodox faction, the top court said what was "bothering" them was that part of the order which permits police to enter inside a religious place. The court left it to the high court to devise some other mechanism by which the contempt of the top court's order could be resolved.

The order passed by a bench of justices Surya Kant and N Kotiswar Singh said, "While entertaining the contempt proceedings, the high court needs to determine some of the relevant issues, including...should the high court, in a dispute relating to religious affairs, direct the civil administration to take over a religious place and to what extent such an intervention is desirable in public interest."