JUDGMENT :

The 1st petitioner is a Constituent Parish Church of the Malankara Orthodox Church administered under the 1934 Constitution of the Malankara Church and the 2nd petitioner is the Vicar of the 1st petitioner Church. The petitioners represent the Orthodox (Catholicos) faction of the Malankara Church and the party respondents represent the Patriarch (Jacobite) faction. There were perpetual fight for managing the affairs of the Malankara Church between the two factions. The Hon'ble Supreme Court, in Varghese K.S. and Others v. St. Peter's & Paul's Syrian Orthodox Church and Others [(2017) 15 SCC 333: 2017 (3) KLT 261: 2017 KHC 6531], held that all churches under the Malankara Syrian Church will have to be administered in accordance with the 1934 Constitution. It is stated by the petitioners that although the judgment in Varghese K.S. (supra) would govern the parties with respect to the Malankara Church, the Patriarch faction violated the directions therein and denied the rights of Vicars and others appointed in accordance with the 1934 Constitution to carry out religious services. This led to disturbance and disharmony among parishioners, prompting the filing of petitions f