A Division Bench of the Kerala High Court on Wednesday ordered the Ernakulam District Collector to take over the Mulanthuruthy Church and its premises, lock them and keep their keys under his custody.
The Bench comprising Justice A.M. Shaffique and Justice P. Gopinath passed the order on an appeal filed by the State government against a single judge’s directive on Tuesday to take possession of the church and hand over it to the Orthodox faction vicars. The single judge had also sought the views of the Assistant Solicitor General of India on deployment of Central forces to assist the District Collector in taking over the church as the State police were engaged in COVID-19- related works.
When the appeal came up for hearing, the State Attorney submitted that the district administration would take police assistance to lock the church and offered to hand over the key to the court. However, the court observed that for the time being, the lock and key of the church and its premises be kept under the custody of the Collector.
Order in abeyance
The court also kept in abeyance the single judge’s orders which were passed on a contempt of court petition moved by the Orthodox vicar.
In its appeal, the State government pointed out that the single judge had erred in directing the District Collector and the police to do an impossible act during the spread of COVID-19. If the single judge’s orders were implemented at a time when the COVID-19 cases were at its peak, both the Jacobite and Orthodox faction leaders would come out in large numbers, accentuating the spread of the pandemic. Besides, the district administration would not be able to deploy sufficient number of police as the force was involved in COVID-19-related activities.
The government said that if the court insisted on implementing the orders, it was likely to lead to a super spread of the pandemic as occurred in the case of Mullaringad in Idukki district. The State government said that the court orders with respect to many churches had been implemented. The government was ready to implement the single judge’s directives without giving any opportunity for creating a law-and-order situation.
The State government, therefore, pleaded that the implementation of the single judge’s directive be deferred for three months.
