Chitambaresh, J.

1. 'Deva' means God and 'Swom' means Ownership in Sanskrit and the term 'Devaswom' denotes the property of God in common parlance. Devaswom Board is a socio-religious trust constituted to manage the property of God comprising of Members nominated by the Government. The scramble for being a nominated Member of the Devaswom Board has given rise to these two writ petitions.

2. WP(C).No.36695/2017 has been filed by the President and a Member of the Travancore Devaswom Board ('the Board' for short) who were originally appointed for a period of three years from 12.11.2015. Section 10 of the Travancore-Cochin Hindu Religious Institutions Act, 1950 ('the Act' for short) has now been amended cutting short their period of office from three years to two years. The amendment was by virtue of the Travancore-Cochin Hindu Religious Institutions (Amendment) Ordinance, 2017 ('the Ordinance' for short) which is impugned in this writ petition. The petitioners contend that the amendment was without reference to the Covenant entered into by the Rulers of Travancore and Cochin ('the Covenant' for short). It is their case that the Covenant provides for the constitution of the Boa