Church: Suit filed by appellant no.1/Metropolitan of Quilon Diocese of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church and appellant no.2/Vicar appointed by him for St.Mary’s Church against the Parishioners of the Church prayed for declaration that the Quilon Metropolitan and the Vicars appointed by him have exclusive right to conduct religious services in the plaint Church and Cemetery and prayed for prohibitory injunction restraining the defendants and others who do not obey the plaintiffs-appellants from entering the plaint church and plaint scheduled properties – Case of appellants was based on Ext A3-assignment-cum-gift deed assigned in their favour – Trial court held in favour of appellants declaring that the appellants have right to conduct religious services in the plaint church and cemetery and granted permanent injunction restraining respondents-defendants and persons who do not obey the appellants from entering the church and conducting religious services and obstructing others who obey the appellants – Single judge of High Court upheld the decision of trial court – However, Division Bench of High Court set aside the judgment of single judge inter alia holding that though the title of properties vested with the Quilon Diocese, the properties including church, cemetery etc. under Ext. A3 were still in the control and management of the parishioners – On appeal, Held: The detailed discussions and conclusions arrived at in K.S. Varghese case had settled the disputes between the Patriarch and the Malankara – As per the Constitutional Bench decision in Thukalan and P.M.A, St. Mary’s Church was bound by 1934 Constitution and the control of the Metropolitan – Having held that the 1934 Constitution is binding upon the Parish Church and Parishioners, Division Bench was not right in holding that the Metropolitan had no power to appoint Vicar, Priests etc. – It is not open to any individual church to have a parallel system of management in the churches under the guise of spiritual supremacy in the Patriarch – Malankara Metropolitan enjoys all the temporal, ecclesiastical and spiritual administrative powers – St. Mary’s Church is a constituent of Malankara and the power to appoint Vicar, Priests etc. is vested with the first plaintiff-Malankara Metropolitan or his representatives – The finding of the Division Bench that the Metropolitan had no authority to appoint a Vicar is directly opposed to the provisions of the 1934 Constitution and also recitals in Ext.A3-Sale-cum-Gift Deed and number of other documents adduced by the appellants – Constitution of India – Arts.25 and 26.
Allowing the appeals, the Court
HELD: 1. The detailed discussions and conclusions arrived at in K.S. Varghese case settles the disputes between the appellant Patriarch and the respondents Malankara. 1934 Constitution is valid and binding upon the Parishioners. The Parish Church has to be managed as per the powers conferred under the 1934 Constitution. It is not open to any individual church to have a parallel system of management in the churches under the guise of spiritual supremacy in the Patriarch. As per the consistent findings in the judgments referred, the prime jurisdiction with respect to the temporal, ecclesiastical and spiritual administration of the Malankara Church is vested with Malankara Metropolitan and other authorities appointed by Malankara Metropolitan. Malankara Metropolitan enjoys all the temporal, ecclesiastical and spiritual administrative powers. As held in K.S. Varghese case, “Full effect has to be given to the finding that the spiritual power of the Patriarch has reached to a vanishing point. Consequently, he cannot interfere in the governance of parish churches by appointing Vicar, priests, Deacons, Prelates (High Priests), etc. and thereby cannot create a parallel system of administration. …….”. [Paras 15, 16] [863-F; 864-A-D]
K.S. Varghese and others v. Saint Peter’s and Saint Paul’s Syrian Orthodox Church and others (2017) 15 SCC 333 – relied on.
2. The present matter relates to the Parish Church-St. Mary’s Church, Kattachira. Ext.-A3-Sale-cum-Gift Deed was executed in favour of Metropolitan of Quilon Diocese. Ext.-A3 provided that the Metropolitan may directly administer the said properties or through his representatives. Ext.-A3 further provided that the Parishioners and the Managing Committee should abide by the dictates of the Metropolitan from time to time. The recitals in Ext.-A3 make it clear that St. Mary’s Orthodox Syrian Church, Kattachira and the properties have been gifted in favour of first plaintiff-Metropolitan Malankara to be treated as Bhadrasanam properties subject to the control of the Metropolitan in appointing Vicar, Priests etc. As per recitals in Ext.-A3, the plaint church and the properties come under the spiritual and the temporal control of the Malankara Metropolitan. Considering the recitals in Ext.-A3 and the judgments of the Supreme Court in Thukalan Paula Avira and P.M.A. Metropolitan case, the trial court and the Single Judge rightly held that the St. Mary’s Church is a constituent of Malankara and the power to appoint Vicar, Priests etc. is vested with the first plaintiffMalankara Metropolitan or his representatives. The plaint church has been a constituent of Metropolitan Malankara and the churches and its properties come under the spiritual and temporal control of Catholicos. [Paras 17, 18, 20] [864-D-G; 865-C; 866C] Moram Mar Basselios Catholicos v. Thukalan Paulo Avira and others AIR 1959 SC 31; Most Rev. P.M.A. Metropolitan and others v. Moran Mar Marthoma and another (1995) Supp 4 SCC 286 : [1995] 1 Suppl. SCR 542; Most Rev. P.M.A. Metropolitan and others v. Moran Mar Marthoma Mathews and another (1996) 8 SCC
470 : [1996] 3 SCR 857 – relied on.
As published in the Supreme Court Reports, Supreme Court of India. Text from the Indian Supreme Court Judgments open data set (Dattam Labs), CC BY 4.0.
This page is for informational and research purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Consult a qualified advocate for advice specific to your situation.