JUDGMENT :

The perpetual fight for managing the affairs of the Malankara Church between the Patriarch faction and Catholicos faction for control of spiritual and temporal management of affairs of the Parish Church has come to an end by the declaration of law by the Hon'ble Supreme Court in K.S.Varghese & Ors. Vs. St. Peter’s & St.Paul’s Syrian Orthodox Church & Ors. [(2017) 15 SCC 333]. Though the legal battle is over, its repercussion still resonates in the corridors of High Court and various civil courts in the State making it a more law and order issue rather than a legal dispute. The Hon'ble Supreme Court in clear terms had held that Malankara Church is episcopal in character to the extent it is so declared in 1934 Malankara Church Constitution (hereinafter referred to as the “1934 Constitution”) and the said Constitution fully governs the affairs of the Parish Churches.

2. The two factions, Patriarch and Catholicos are bound by the declaration of law in K.S.Varghese case (supra). It appears that the Patriarch faction is not able to relish with the declaration and could not come in terms with reality. The Vicars of the Church under their control were not appointed in terms of the