Court comes down heavily on Kerala government

Case relates to plea filed for takeover of 6 Orthodox churches

The Kerala High Court yesterday slammed the inaction of the Pinarayi Vijayan government in not doing what a state government should do, after an order is put out by the judiciary.

Justice Devan Ramachandran came down heavily on the Vijayan government while taking up a petition filed for the takeover of six Orthodox churches by the Orthodox faction, presently under the control of the Jacobite faction.

The court pointed out that the apex court in its final verdict in 2017, gave the Orthodox faction the right to administer 1,100 churches and parishes under the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church and said there was no ground for the Jacobites to claim any of the churches.

Frightening silence

The helplessness of the government under the pretext of issues surfacing if the order is implemented and its silence is frightening as the onus is on the government to implement the orders of the judiciary.

The court asked the state government to file its reply and posted the case for hearing on September 29.

A non-Catholic Christian community in Kerala, the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church, has two factions.